


Please Help, I Was Thrown Into Another Dimension

by Multifandomhoe1163



Series: New dimension, same problems. [1]
Category: Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain - Richard Roberts, Super Powereds - Drew Hayes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-08 12:50:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 26,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18895000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandomhoe1163/pseuds/Multifandomhoe1163
Summary: The IM is thrown into the Super Powereds universe through a series of unfortunate events.





	1. I really hate Halloween.

You know , I used to love Halloween. I got to help my dad make my costume, dress up, and mom always knew the statistical breakdown on which houses had the best candy, and the best routes to avoid raisins. But as a senior in high school the magic seemed to have left.

Ray, Claire, and I were making our way through the under-city, on our way to the de facto hiding place for things to dangerous to be above ground. I knew from the day I found that dragon statue that it was dangerous. Heck, even then I understood that anything with an inter-dimensional protector was dangerous. Sadly I had made the mistake of thinking that I was immune to it.

Early today the inscrutable machine and I had been working in the base when I heard a high pitched squeal. Honestly, over four years of being a villain, and then a superhero, that was not too far out of the ordinary. It was never a good sign, but it was pretty normal ( my definition of normal is kinda disturbing ). The thing that made me worried was that it was coming from my trophy room. I kept some dangerous stuff in there.

I hightailed it over there while sending Ray, Claire, and my dad a text from my suits internal systems. Ray was there before I made it, the jerk. 

"Yes, my dark mistress?" he said in his ever so odd, ever so sexy English accent.

"Ray, grab a protective suit, and get back here. Dad should be on his way." I said in my best "leader of a successful hero team" voice. He looked a bit surprised, until he heard the sound coming from the trophy room. He connected the dots, turned, and ran for the supply closet.

Closet may be underselling it a bit. It was a collection of all the useful equipment that me, dad, and every villain we took down could build. I knew for a fact that the blast suits that dad had given me were still in there somewhere, and those were Ray and Claire's best bet for avoiding any ill effects of whatever was going off in our trophy room.

Claire jogged up to me, already in her protective suit. Of course she was. Claire had an amazing power, a gorgeous body, and was secretly one of the smartest people I had ever met. Not a mad scientist smart, but she could keep up with my mom in chess.

"What have we got going on here ?" Claire asked through the suits protective filtration systems speaker.

'I wish I knew. I have dad on his way for backup, and Ray is getting suited up as we speak. "I tried to keep my voice I steady and professional, but it was always a bad day if something in the trophy room was making noise.

"Understood. We ll head in as soon as Ray gets back, in case the noise is a time sensitive matter ." Claire managed to stay as aloof and seemingly uncaring as always, even when discussing life or death noises.

Ray made it around the corner as she was talking, suit on, and legs pumping like there was an all you can eat buffet on sale.

I gathered my troops and we made our way into to the trophy room. As we entered I saw the notification on my helmet screen that Dad was here. He must have driven like a mad man to get here so soon. We lived close to the school, but still. We entered through the airlock that dad had give me, and into the half museum, half storage unit that was the trophy room.

It took me about three milliseconds to realize just how deep the hole we were standing in was. The statue was one of my first, and most dangerous trophies. The guardian that had been keeping it safe was no joke, and it had nearly taken down Mech. Not to mention that the coins it held could mess with the minds of some of the most powerful people in the world. For goodness sake, it was even able to confuse Claudia.

There was a black dot over the bowl of the statue, and it seemed to be pulsing in time with the SqUeellING noise I had heard outside. The only difference was inside the airlock of the trophy room it was more like the sonic device that BoomBoom had used on me last year. Thankfully mine and dads protective gear had included dampening tech. Claire and Ray both tripped a little, but stayed standing. Dampening wasn't perfect, and this was a noise to be reckoned with.

I opened a video link to the suits Claire and Ray were wearing.

"Ok guys, this may be a bigger problem than I thought." I said over my video link.

"Yeah, no kidding." Claire said with a shocking amount of worry. On any one else that amount of worry would be mild concern, but for a Lutra that was the next best thing to incoherent babbling.

"May I suggest a retreat?" Ray asked.

"Yes!" I exclaimed over the ever growing noise coming from my statue.

All three of us backed into the airlock, and through the back door.

Dad was there waiting on us, looking shocked.

"Pumpkin, what is going on in there?"

"Dollar in the jar when you get home." I reminded. "The statue is going off, and we need to figure out a solution, fast."

"The statue that had an inter-dimensional horror guarding it?"

"Don't remind me, dad." I muttered. "I think we may need the machine to eat it, but I have no idea what will happen if we do."

"That may be the best action we can take, but you're right. I have no idea what destroying an artifact that strong may do either, but I doubt it will be something pleasant."Dad was WAY too worried for comfort.

"How about the undercity?" Ray said with as much forced calm as he could muster.

"Good plan. I'll head upstairs, and put the dome up." Dad turned tail, and headed up to the top layer of my lab.

The dome was a protective countermeasure he had designed when he first found out about the lab. It was the same dome he had on our house, and it should be strong enough to keep the norms safe if we failed to get the statue under control.

I ran back into the trophy room, and grabbed the statue. I was it's mistress, according to my sorceress friend Barbara, so I should be safe from whatever was going on with it. I ran into the corridor, and the inscrutable machine and I ran as fast as we could towards the under-city entrance.

We made good time, but the noise kept growing louder, and the dot( now the size of a saucer)  was growing at an alarming rate. Ray just pulled the door off its hinges, and I jumped down, not even using the ladder. The spring loaded hover disks in my suit activated with a blink from me, and slowed me down just before I hit the ground. Ray just did an oh-so-traditional superhero landing, and Claire came soon after with her signature grappling hook.

Ray led the way, his super speed coming in handy, and his knowledge of the under-city coming to even more use. He had spent more time down here than anyone else alive( with the possible exception of lab rat ) , and he knew it as well as anyone we had found. We had used Evolution's lair for a few items that were too dangerous for the upstairs world, and we all knew that was our best bet.

We turned a corner past the sunken house, and ran past the field of mutated grain. There! We had almost made it. I had no clue what our timeline was, but I was taking no chances. Just a few more seconds and we made it into the lair of the worlds most legendary superhero. It was a jumbled mess of what were certainly powerful artifacts,but it looked more like a graveyard for experiments gone wrong. 

I set the artifact down as gently as I could, and started spinning the machine on my wrist. My baby could eat anything, including energy. I only hoped it would be fast enough. I threw the machine down on the artifact, and yelled "EAT!" to activate it. Claire and Ray stood behind me, obviously scared, but neither looked ready to run. The machine started chewing on the base, but the sound only grew worse. We stared, transfixed. The black orb on top of the bowl just kept growing.

My baby kept chewing, not even fazed by the noise. Tiny plates of pure jade started popping up on the machine, and it only ate faster. Scarily the orb only kept growing, exponentially faster. None of us knew what we should do, but we all knew the machine was our best bet of surviving what ever was happening. I grabbed Ray s hand, and squeezed. Claire grabbed my other hand, and we all knew that we were in this crap show together.

Looking back on it now, we should have run as fast as we could. But, in that moment all we could do was stare at the statue. The globe, for it was a globe now, started to pulse. My power seemed to kick in, and I got images that I will probably never understand. I saw millions of earths, numbers, symbols, and so many other things I can't begin to describe. Never the less, my body stayed still. I don't know if it was a side effect of the orb, or just adrenaline. The orb pulsed one more time, and exploded. It was nothing like a bomb. I knew bombs, heck my power LOVED bombs. This was more like an implosion. The blackness seemed to pull the three of us into the void, and we flew towards the pin point of light I could now just barely see.

I have no clue how long we were in the darkness. When we finally stopped the light had gone from a pinpoint to absolutely blinding. It took me a hot minute to realize that the blinding light was actually the sun. Yeah, for a super powerful mad scientist that took an embarrassingly long amount of time.

Claire

When the pulse had started I assumed the worse. Honestly, over the course of four years of hero work I had never been so scared. I hid my emotions well though, mom had made sure that part of my training was well ingrained. The most famous cat burglar in the world, a legendary grifter, and renowned seductress. My mother. I loved the women, and everything she had taught me, but no one can prepare your for being a real hero, or villain. But, she did prepare me for a lot, and being thrown into a strange place with no idea how was actually one of them. When I was 10 we did drills where I would wake up in a new city, and have to get home on my own. She always watched me, to be sure I was safe, but I had to make my own way. Penny was the leader of the inscrutable machine, but I knew far more about survival in a new place.

I started with a good look around. A city, which was a good sign. A nearby sign said Brewster hardware . Ray was collapsed on the ground, head buried in Penny's boobs. Wait! What? Never mind, I'll tease them for that later. Another sign for McDonalds. Well, two English signs, good start. A Starbucks! Perfect!

I walked over to Penny, and pulled Ray out of her cleavage. They were both slowly waking up, Penny first, then Ray. Penny looked dazed, and then muttered" sun, obviously you idiot."

Ok, first things first, I needed to get on Wi-Fi and do some research. My phone was a custom model that Brian Ack had made me when he found out that I was into a bit of lite hacking. Maybe I was a bit too mission oriented, but really, if Penny was fine, then Ray had to be.

That man had started out strong, and boy, had he gotten stronger. He seemed to grow stronger and faster every week. If I knew my super-humans( and I do ) then he was going to be on the mid end of strong men in the next few months. The amazing thing was how his speed and reflexes had kept up. Bull would always be stronger, but he had near human speed, like most strong men. Ray on the other hand could give our speedy friend Will a ( pardon the pun) run for his money.

I pulled the two slowpokes off the ground, and headed towards the hardware store. "Penny, you need to get into civies, and five minutes ago. Ray, you and me need to get out of these suits, and need a place to stash them."

I turned my power on its stun setting, and went for the hardware store. I found a tool chest big enough for our suits, and grabbed a pair of coveralls for Penny. That handled I paid the googoo-eyed clerk, and headed back to my team.

We ducked out of sight for a quick change session, with both Ray and Penny a mixture of stunned and groggy. Mid-change Penny had the presence of mind to ask the question that was number one on the obvious questions list.

"Where the heck are we?" She asked, voice only somewhat slurred.

"We're about to find out." I said in my best no non-sense voice. But first, coffee.

I got the team to their feet, and we headed for the Starbucks. Thank the gods for caffeine and free Wi-Fi. Once inside I grabbed us all some sweet, sweet caffeine, and headed back to the still dazed duo. Ray, holding Penny's hand, looked at me expectantly as I sat down with the drinks.

"Brewster, Illinois!" I announced proudly.

"We went all the way from LA to Illinois!?" Penny gasped as she sipped her latte.

Ray had the same shock painted on his face. He had come a long way since getting superpowers, moving out, and becoming a recognized hero, but new places and situations still put him more on edge than the rest of us.

I nodded to the team as I hooked up my superphone to the Starbucks Wi-Fi. The woman at the counter was all to happy to tell the adorable little girl everything I asked.

"So it seems." I said out loud. "Give me a moment to find out exactly where, and I ll call Brian to arrange transport home."

Penny nodded in agreement. "Good plan, he's probably still outside the dome, and worried sick."

I got our coordinates, and called Brian's number. My shock must have peeked through when my phone played a message for number not found .

Ray immediately asked "What is it?"

I ignored him, and turned to Penny. "Penny, you know Brian's number by heart, right?" She looked a bit sick at that, but nodded. She recited it, and I knew something else had gone very wrong.

I cycled through my Mom's number, Lucyfar's, BB's, and all had the same result. Will's number had been picked up by someone who had never heard of him, and the same happened with Cassie's.

Penny and Ray watched on with ever more worried looks as I made my calls, and they all ended with no good news. I flipped up my power a little, and got the date from an unsuspecting hipster sitting near us.

I turned to the team, and started."The good news is that we can rule out time travel. The bad news is we can't rule out much else. I'm not sure if we changed the fabric of reality, or got shoved through it."

Penny looked sicker than ever, and Ray looked like I had just told him Christmas and thanksgiving had just given birth to a combination holiday.

"So you're saying my parents don't exist here!?" Penny exclaimed far too loudly.

"I don't know about that, but what I am saying is that I can't get in contact with anyone. I tried. I need time to see if I can track down our parents and friends, but something definitely changed with that, I guess... implosion."

"Definitely implosion." said the much happier, and quieter Ray.

"What the heck you two?" Penny asked angrily. "Our family, our friends, our world , may be gone, and you're concerned with implosion versus explosion!"

I knew I had to play the calming friend role, or Penny may do something stupid.

"Penny ," I said with my calmest, most placating tone "we don't know anything for sure yet. What we do know is that all of us are alive, and safe. We were at the epicenter of the blast, so if were alive, they must be too. We need to get back on our feet, and address this like the professionals we are. Let's take stock, and find a place to lay low."

Penny calmed a bit, and Ray held her close on the couch.

"I have my suit, Vera, Brenda, the night-night gun, my teleport bracers, the hover disks, and the machine." Penny listed off.

Ray held up his gloved hands, and said "blast gloves, night stick, and my mask."

I had my phone, some cash, lock picks, and a couple of fake IDs. Back in my costume I had my anti-grave insoles, and grappling hook. Oh, and the push rod.

"Ok guys, we need cash, and a hidey-hole." I stood, grabbed my tool chest, and phone. I googled the nearest landfill, and led the other two out onto the street.

"Penny, you remember back when we were playing villain at the dump? I think we may need to do a repeat performance"

She got what I meant in no time, and popped out her light bike. I grabbed my new and improved anti-grav insoles, slipped them into my shoes, and we started off. Penny had obviously put my phone up on her helmet display, as she shot off without needing directions. I was still a bit worried about her mental state, but I trusted her to keep cool head. If she could keep calm through potentially world ending threats, she could keep calm through this.

Ray still needed directions, so I convinced him to pick me up, and we started moving along as quick as he could run. It only took a few minutes to make it to the much uglier dump. I suppose California had aesthetic standards to maintain.

Ray

I started running, Claire's weight not even noticeable. I was feeling a little guilty about Penny. I know I should have been more sensitive, but the opportunity to live my life without my parents was too amazing of an offer to pass up. It had been hell ever since I had gotten my emancipation. I wanted to feel a desire to go home, but with my two best friends here I had all I needed.

Claire guided my way to the dump, hand signals used over speech while I ran. We were nowhere near as fast as Penny on her light bike, but we made good time. We did get some looks, but nothing that made me worry. It hadn't occurred to me until then that we may be somewhere that super powers were not as common, or even non-existent. Thankfully that did not seem to be the case. I still felt guilty when we got to the dump, but I had no idea how to address it. Instead I just grabbed my girl in a hug, and tried to apologize.

"It occurs to me that I was a total ass back in the coffee shop." I whispered into her ear.

"It's fine Ray, I just want to be back home. But Claire is right, they have to be alive, and we can find them."

"I agree, we need to focus on that right now. We are professionals, and we can solve this. Lets grab some resources, and find a place to plan, and sleep." I tried to tamp down my excitement and be supportive, but I admit, it was a struggle.

"Come on you two! We need to get in and get out, this is not the time to get in trouble for trespassing." Claire was yelling from up on one of the hills.

"Let's go, my love. Claire is correct, as usual." I pulled Penny into my arms, and jumped the fence over to the mounds of garbage.

"Machine! Eat! Recycle everything you eat into one foot by one foot bricks. Whenever you have excess materials make mini-machines with the same directions. Gold is the only exception, bring all of that to me.' My darling Penny gave directions with the same authority she used to direct heroes in battle.

We watched the machines for a while, hand in hand. Claire was typing away on her phone, doing only god knows what.

"We'll be ok." I whispered to her, squeezing her hand lightly.

"I know. I trust you and Claire with my life."

Claire started walking over to us , phone still in hand. "Guys, we are have definitely traveled interdimensionally. This place has VERY different heroes, different villains, different people, and, I'm sorry Penny, but no sign of our parents."

Penny sank a bit in my arms, but stayed standing. I gave her a squeeze, and asked Claire "What else did you find out? I assume that wasn't all you managed to dig up?"

"It was not!" she said with all the pride a Lutra could produce, which was quite a significant amount. "We re still on earth, in America, and LA still exists. That all should be obvious, but I still checked. Super-humans here are called Supers as short hand. They also seem to have people with powers, but no control. They'll soon be a thing of the past though, a test group just graduated the HCP. The HCP is a training school for heroes. They stil-"

"Wait!?" Penny belted. "They have a school for heroes here?"

'They have a full program to train heroes here. Like a college degree, but in hero work. They're at actual colleges too."

"I had to interject. Wait, do you have to go to college to be a hero here? What about younger heroes?"

Claire went on at that prompt. "There are no younger heroes. Here you have to go through the program to be a hero. It seems like they are a mix of our heroes, and the military and police. Very efficient of you ask me. They do still seem to have an obsession with crazy costumes, though. I see one guy on here who is lugging around a baseball bat, and wearing a cowboy hat. He seems to be a local, and one of the former powereds. Oh! They're the guys with control issues! It looks like a few just got to be heroes, made it through the program as part of testing the procedure that made them supers."

A voice carrying a southern accent broke over the hill, and a yell of "Hands up fuckers! We need to have a serious talk about super tech and trespassing!"

Claire gave a small gasp and she said "Shit. That would be the bat guy."

Roy

Finally. A call that is something more interesting than a robbery. Dispatch came over the earpiece with her usual pseudo-European accent." Ettin, we have a report of three individuals using super tech at the Brewster landfill. Reason is unknown. One is a known super, and we assume that the builder of the technology is also in attendance. The super seems to have enhanced strength, and we have reports of enhanced speed. No other powers or weapons known at this time. Your orders are to take Coma to the site, and investigate."

Roy nodded, and then, realizing that he was on the earpiece, said "Will do. Is Titan coming along, or just us two?"

Dispatch replied immediately. "Titan is currently engaged in another mission, and you are the closest to the incident. Coma will be coming as ranged support."

"Acknowledged" Roy replied. Coma was good support, and the only subtlety hero on the gentle hammers team. A telepath with a useful secondary ability Coma had graduated from Korman university. Titan was allowed two interns, and he snatched Coma up, knowing that The Gentle Hammers needed someone to handle the information gathering. She also came endorsed by his boyfriend Jeremiah, which meant she was very good

"Coma!" I bellowed, grabbing my bat "We got a mission, and it s me and you, babe!"

Coma rolled her eyes in a way that made me even more interested.

"Lets go, horn dog. We have robots to investigate." She started floating out the base door, and I followed, enjoying the view.

We made our way, her flying, and me getting some jumping practice. I still wasn't as good as Titan, but 8 months of practice had narrowed the gap. The dump was shockingly close, or given the location of our base, not so shockingly close. Titan had made things better for the Hammers, but we still kept the base, just with some improvements.

We came onsite, Coma heading around to the back of the pile they were standing on, and I made myself known, with style.

I gave a call out to them, and they all turned at once, robots working around them. The weird beetle things moved around the hills of garbage like it was a massive anthill. The three of them was just standing there, two holding hands, listening to the cute little girl. Damn, she was just too cute, like a puppy and a panda put together.

I was starting at her for some time, when Hershel's voice broke into my head. "ROY! Wake up, you've been staring at that girl for almost a minute. She is obviously a super, and you need to snap out of it!"

I shook my head, still a bit fuzzy. Eyes closed I could think again. She must have some sort of distraction ability. I opened my eyes, staring at the ground, an tried to get a gauge of the battlefield from their feet. The girls were still standing together, but the teenage boy had started walking towards me, hands up. Good, at least he was not opening with an attack.

"Please don't attack!" He yelled across the piles of crap.

"Give me some reason not to! You kids are trespassing, and using some sort of super tech to do only god knows what! I need an explanation, and fast." I tried to keep my voice from being to mean, but still let them know that I take no shit.

"We were dumped here, and we needed to make some money. The machine is a recycling machine, and this dump is going to be filled with all sorts of metals we could sell for cash. We mean no harm, but we have to survive."

The boy looked to be telling the truth, and he had kept his hands up, not attacking. I knew dispatch had said he was a strong man type, so he was not likely to be bluffing an attack.

I lowered my bat, which I had forgotten I had raised. "Tell the mind girl to turn off her power, or this is going to go badly!" I yelled.

"Claire!" He yelled behind him, and the fuzz covering my head went dead. I looked up, safe to look around again. The two girls were still standing behind him, but one had put on some funky bracelets up and down her arms.

"Coma!" I whispered into my earpiece."I need a read on those three, and fast."

"They're telling the truth, and have no desire to attack. The problem is that they are either VERY far from home, or we have a memory super fucking with peoples minds. I am going to drop them, and I need to you grab them. This is something big, and we need a full-fledged hero on it now." Coma was deadly serious, voice containing enough worry that I knew shit was going to fly, and soon.

Right at that thought the three dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Titan

When I got the call from Dispatch saying to get my ass home( though in more work appropriate terms) I knew something bad had come up. You don't just pull someone from a DVA meeting for lunch time. I was with Blaine, and we were going over the one year report of my time with the Hammers. It was going smoothly, but I honestly wanted to punch something out of boredom.

When the call from Dispatch came in I wished I had kept my mouth shut. The worst part was that Blaine got a call on his cell phone at the same time. We both answered immediately, a call during a meeting was going to be vital information.

"Titan, you are needed back at the gentle hammers base immediately. We have a possible threat on site, though it is contained. Zero is also receiving a temporary activation for the mission, due to the unknown powers at work." Dispatch, calm and collected as usual, rattled off the message in my ear.

I stood, pushing back my chair a little harder than really necessary, and looked at Blaine, who nodded.

"I have been temporarily reactivated, much to my displeasure. We will leave now. Transport will arrive in 15 seconds."

True to his word, 14 seconds later the door flew open, with Mr. Transport pushing it.

"Let's go, gentlemen." Came tumbling out of his mouth, and with a pop, we were off.

No time later we appeared back home, in the Hammers base. It was still a rundown warehouse, but now it was a homey rundown warehouse. Deadlift and Kaijou stood at attention, obviously waiting for us to show up.

Deadlift spoke immediately. "They're in the shelter Sirs. So far they have not been at all combative, but it's the story they have to tell, and the fact that Coma is backing it up that brings you here. I'll give you the cliffs note version on the way down."

The shelter was actually a renovated storm shelter that Coma, along with help from Ettin's classmate, Technomancer had modified. They had turned it into a safe room, a place to hold secure conversations, keep assets, or get laid if the upstairs was occupied. On the surface it was a shabby lounge, ugly couch and mini-fridge included. The tech, both human and super, that had gone into it made it a surprisingly secure room, safe from teleporters, and more mundane threats, like listening devices.

Deadlift started right in, walking and talking. "Three suspected supers showed up on dispatches radar for using super tech in a landfill. Ettin and Coma were sent to investigate, and apprehend if needed. Once there Ettin began a conversation with the three, while Coma was on hand to fact check via her telepathy. Once inside their minds she got some information that disturbed her enough to bring the three in for further investigation. Apparently they believe themselves to be from a different earth, or separate dimension. She dropped them, and Ettin and her transported them back to the base safe room for questioning. None of them have shown any hostility, and all claim to be heroes on their home earth." Deadlift had reached a hatch in the floor, and stopped talking to bend and open it.

"Coma came to the conclusion that we either had someone who made them honestly believe their story, or they were telling the truth. Either way, she felt justified bringing them in for further investigation."

Titan had been a hero for a long time, and Blaine had also had a full career. Both knew that neither option was good. The ability to modify memory was such a rare gift, and the other option was even more terrifying. Many heroes had spatial powers, or could manipulate reality and space. Some could even manipulate time, though those were some of the rarest supers in the world. Never had a super been found that could prove or disprove the multiverse theory, and none had shown the ability to travel between said universes. Still, new supers got new powers every day, and anything was possible.

We descended down a steep flight of stairs to the safe room.I could feel that Blaine had reactivated his field around us as a safety measure. We entered to see three kids sitting on the ratty couch, drinking sodas, as Coma stood watch. They all seemed at ease, if a bit rattled.

Coma introduced the three to the entering Heroes. "Hey! These are Penny, Ray, and Claire!" pointing to each in turn. "They were found recycling ( said with air quotes ) a landfill to make some cash, but they forgot to get the companies permission to be onsite." She seemed more amused than angry or worried.

She went on. "Don't you boys worry, I scanned their thoughts, and everyone is peaceful."

I looked the kids over. No obvious super traits, but that hardly meant anything.

Interesting. Very interesting. Young, seventeen or eighteen maybe, but the looked like they had been around the block a few times. If their story was true then maybe they had.

I stepped forward, introducing myself. "Hi there, I'm Titan. Coma tells us you have had quite the day."

Roy stepped forward, bat in hand. "I ll say. It seems that the Halloween curse is still in effect, if these three are telling the truth. Coma here says they are, so I'm leaning towards believing them, no matter how bat shit crazy it may sound."

I grabbed the easy chair, and pulled over another for Blaine. "Ok you three, I got the fast version on the way here, but this is a story that needs to be told in person."

Penny

Titan was a beast of a man. Heck, he looked like he could give Bull a run for his money. He came in, and after introductions he asked for our story. We gladly gave it, and the psychic girl, Coma, nodded whenever he or the other man looked to her for confirmation. I still had no idea how she brought us down, but it was impressive.

Titan looked concerned, and nodded in all the right places. Everyone present seemed to be taking the story well, which was shocking, honestly. When we finally got to the part where Claire was kicking me awake in Brewster he stopped me.

"So you woke up, with no sign of that statue to be seen?" He asked in a voice that wanted confirmation, not with disbelief.

"Yeah!" Claire said with far too much enthusiasm. "I thought the machine must have finished eating it, but I can't be sure."

So. She was back in her "cute little girl who was far to innocent and adorable to be a threat" gear.

I agreed with her, and finished up the story with no more interruptions. Titan looked thoughtful, and Blaine looked at us with a serious expression that was much scarier than I thought a man so ordinary could produce.

After a moment he stood, and spoke to the room. "I am going to do something that is a deeply held secret of mine, and I expect it to stay that way. My abilities allow me to nullify any leftover vestiges of a supers ability in another person. For the sake of our own world I must insist you three allow me to use this technique on you. This is the only way we can be sure that this is not a mental manipulation power at work."

"Of course!" I said immediately. "We're happy to do whatever is needed to prove our side of the story."

Ray did not look happy at all, but he and Claire both nodded after I spoke.

The older man walked over, and held out his hand. I gave him mine first. What kind of leader would I be if I expected the others to go before me?

He took my hand in his, and a light tingling started where our flash met, and traveled up and through my body. A pressure released in my head, and I realized that the small voice that always knew everything in the back of my head had gone completely silent. Dead silent, in a way I had not experienced since my emergence in 7th grade. I tried to keep calm, and I stayed as stoic as I could, but it was a scary experience. It lasted for almost a minute, and then he let go of my hand. After just a second it was back, muttering as always.

I looked at Ray and nodded to him, and then to Claire. "It tingles, but no pain, I swear to you both." Ray still looked more put out than I expected of him, but he complied, and then Claire after, all with the same effect.

The man took a step back, and looked at Coma. She nodded, and then said aloud to him and Titan "They still have the same thoughts and memories going through their heads. I have to say they are telling the truth, no matter how many questions that brings forth."

Titan nodded slowly at the three of us, all still seated on the couch. "I think I may be able to help you all out with money, both short, and long term. For now I know we can keep you off the streets, but I have another idea that may be able to sustain you all long term. What did you guys do for aftermath cleanup back home?"

Titan had indeed gotten us taken care of. Ray went off first, to a wonderful lady named Miss Daniels. Next up Claire went with the aptly named Mr. Transport to meet up with a young lady named Alice. When it was my turn to head out I asked who I was going to be with. Titan looked amused, and just said "One of the only people who may be able to keep up with your tech head."

I opened my eyes after the Poof the teleportation gave off faded. Seriously, this transport guy was amazing! I opened my eyes to see a lab that almost held up to my dad's specs. A short gangly young man was at one of the work benches tinkering with a staff. The whole thing screamed superscience weapon . A weird blade that my power seemed to like, a glowing crystal, and buttons and hatches all over the thing made it look like something Red Eye, or the expert would be selling in china town.

Titan startled the man with a grunt. "Ahem. Will, this is the young lady I told you about. She seemed like she would get along with you and yours."

Will stood, recovering his poise. "Ah yes! The young traveler. I do want to hear more on that story. Welcome to my home!"

With a look around I saw some out of place touches, like a couch with a blanket and pillow, and a hotplate and fridge. It took me a moment, but I realized that he did in fact live here, not just work here.

I stepped forward to introduce my self, and we shook hands. "Penny Ack. Back home I was the hero Bad Penny. Mad scientist and lover of all things nerd. Nice to meet you!"

"Will Murray" , he responded. "I am sorry, but you don t yet have clearance to learn my hero name. Also I must warn you that if you deduce my name from context, that is a secret you must keep under any circumstances."

"Understood." I quickly assured him. "I never want to get to personal when it comes to the hero side of our lives."

"Ah yes" he muttered. "Titan told me that you had been doing hero work for some time, back on your home earth. You must tell me about that also. I cannot fathom a child being sent to into our world so young."

"Well to be fair, my friends and I were an exception to the rule." I started to dive into the story, but Titan interrupted us.

"I am sorry to have to go so soon, but arrangements must be made with the DVA. Power assessments and such have to be setup. I will be in contact. Have a good night Penny, Will." With that he was Poofed away by Mr. Transport.

I turned back to Will. "Well, as I was saying."

Still Penny, cause reasons.

I had been here for three days, and I was getting antsy. Will was ALWAYS working, or asleep. I knew he couldn t tell me about his days, because he had his secrete identity, but that still put a major damper on conversation. Not to mention that he was almost always out doing actual hero work. The heroes here seemed to spend a lot more time on the job than we did.

I had seen Ray and Claire once, and they were both adjusting well. We had all met at Miss Daniel s house for Sunday dinner, in typical southern fashion. Sally( she insisted we all call her Sally ) was an amazing host, and seemed to be doing Ray a world of good. She always complemented his appetite, and he always loved her cooking, which was amazing.

We all got to meet some more friends of the family. A silver haired man named Vince was there, along with his girlfriend Eliza, Sally s son Hershel, and his girlfriend Mary, plus Claire s chaperons , Alice, and Nick. They all seemed to be in freakishly good shape, which I took as a sign of hero work. Of course I stayed away from personal topics like that, since I am a professional, no matter what earth I was stuck on.

I was a bit worried about Claire. She seemed to be taking to Alice a bit too well. When I heard talk of a shopping trip Mary and I both had the same "Deer about to be hit by a school bus" look. I had a feeling that Alice had a similar reputation to Claire's when it came to clothes.

But crimminey, was I ever bored, just sitting in Will's lab for so long. He had made it clear I was allowed to leave, but I had no idea what to do. For the past years my life was all about the inscrutable machine. Now that part was stripped away.

I did some tinkering, but I avoided making anything so that I didn't use up all of Will's supplies. Thank Lucyfar that Titan came over when he did. I was minutes away from having the machine eat and re-assemble the building.

He came in with a grin on his face, and I knew something was up.

"Do you remember what I told you about cleanup contracts around the country?" He asked in a jovial voice.

"Of course!" I exclaimed, looking forward to doing literally anything not inside the apartment.

"Well" He replied, grin still in place "Blaine has gotten your identities taken care of with the DVA. They have a lot of experience making them for heroes, so your guys were not a problem. Now that you officially exist in our world you can start picking up some work with that machine of yours."

I grinned like Ray at thanksgiving dinner. "So this means I can start helping out again, and make some money!"

"That it does. I have a friend, former hero turned industry giant that said he wants to give you a hands on interview. IF you want, that is." He looked at me with a look that said he knew very well that I wanted to go to that interview.

"YES YES YES" I yelled, jumping up and down with excitement.

"I thought it might interest you, just a bit. And I have to admit, that machine of yours is one impressive piece of tech. Will even told me he can t make heads-nor-tails of it."

"My dad said the same thing, and so did every other mad scientist back home." I tried to explain how mad-sci tech was broken down into levels back home while grabbing my shoes, and my tool kit. Just because I was off hero duty doesn't mean I get to go out without my toys.

We made our way out the door, and down to street level. Titan had a truck that was oddly similar to Bull s, but it looked much more road safe for us normal sized humans.

We headed to a more downtown area of Brewster, making good time, but never speeding. When we got to our destination I was a bit confused. It looked like a simple one level office suite. When we got inside it was clear that something far more interesting went on here. All around the office people were scurrying around, some in costumes, some with obvious physical traits to mark them as superhumans. In the center of the room was a selection of 6 giant boards, hovering in a way that said a super had been involved in their creation. We headed towards that area, and the tiny man in costume that seemed to be the epicenter.

"Patch"Titan bellowed "I brought a friend !"

Patch , the tiny man in costume turned towards the noise, which barely broke over the din on the room, and broke into a smile.

"Titan! You bastard! I can t believe you are allowed to look that good after all these years!" Patch spoke with a good natured frustration, and it was clear these two had history.

"Genetics can be a bitch!" Titan said laughing. "I brought along the young tech genius I told you about. I think she may be able to do some good work for you."

"Ah yes, the girl with the recycling machine. I have a little interview project lined up for us." Patch walked us along the floor of the still bustling building to a heavy man in overalls who was arranging and re-arranging lists on one of the floating white boards that were around the office.

"Kickback!" Patch yelled over the noise to the heavy set man at the board. "I need to hop over to that job we discussed in Port. Vallans. We have an interview today!"

The man turned immediately to Patch, and started walking over quickly.

"Yes sir!" He said it like a man who had been military for years. "I have you marked for right before the next trip over to Kansas." Turning to Penny he stuck out his hand and introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you, young lady. I m Kickback, transport specialist for PatchJobs. I ll be getting you three to Port Vallans and back today."

"Nice to meet you, Kickback, Penny Ack, at your service. Are you taking Titan too? You said all three of us."

"That I am Miss. He said he was a mite curious as to how this would go down, so we offered to let him tag along. If you re ready we can head out now. " Kickback spoke with a tight accent, and he definitely gave off the military man aura.

"Ready when you are!" I said, containing as much excitement as I could, which is to say, not that much.

Patch grabbed his shoulder, and we followed suit. A second later I understood why his name was Kickback. The recoil was shocking, but not painful. I gathered my wits, and then realized how much more humid it was.

"Where is port vallans, Might I ask?"

"Louisiana" Patch said with a chuckle. "Titan mentioned you were new to the area, but not that new. This is a pretty major city."

"Sorry." I said sheepishly. "I ve not picked up all the geography yet, but I ll learn quick."

"No worries. We are just about two blocks from the job site. Lets get a move on." Patch started walking and we all followed, no questions asked. He just had the air of a man who knew he was right, and we all trusted him.

It took almost no time at all for me to see where we were headed. What looked like a rubble pile stood where a section of buildings should have been.

"Woah!" I exclaimed. "Is that my audition?"

Patch chuckled. "That it is Miss Penny Ack. Titan tells me your machine can recycle anything, so I want to see it in action. If you would." He pointed to one of the smaller sections of the pile, as he spoke.

"You know I can't make him recycle the building back into shape right?"

"Of course not! I just want you to have the machine sort the materials into stacks, according to what they were before they came down. Timber in one, brick in another, wire, et cetera. From that point the others I have working on the project will be able to move the materials and sell them off. That gives us a blank space to build the new building onto."

I nodded, and gave the machine his orders. "Machine! Eat the smallest stack. Recycle everything back to its old shape, and stack it according to materiel type. Make mini-machines as needed."

My baby did what it was told, as always. It started off small, but soon got some steam built up, and started spitting out Mini-Machines. In about fifteen minutes the whole pile had been consumed. The watchers just stared in shock, which for our worlds was a real compliment.

Titan spoke first. "Well, shit. I have seen some impressive stuff in my time, but that makes my top ten for sure."

Patch just nodded to him. After another brief pause He spoke up too. "Penny, if you want the job you can start tomorrow. That is possibly the most impressive super tech I have seen put to work. Or at least the most impressive tech that was not about to try and kill me."

I just grinned. I knew my baby was amazing, and now they did too!

"I'll take it!" I may have been jumping, just a little. I was not, and am not the type of girl to be stuck at home, so I was thrilled to be able to do something.

"Well Miss" Kickback started "let s go get on the paperwork. There is a mighty load of it."

"Of course!" I squealed "Machine! Detach yourself and let the Mini-Machines finish their work. Have them recycle themselves back when they're done."

I grabbed Kickbacks arm, and we got started on it.

Ray

Miss Daniels was amazing. Truly, I was beginning to understand what Penny and Claire had gotten to experience at home. The cooking was another thing. Miss Daniels said she had gotten experience with her two sons, Roy and Hershel. I had met Hershel a few times, but apparently Roy was working. I suspected that working meant hero work, but I never wanted to get too personal.

Home style cooking had always been a luxury that I got to enjoy at Claire s house, but never something that I enjoyed on a regular basis. I had moved out at fifteen, once we all came out to the community as heroes. It had been shockingly easy to be granted emancipation with two world famous heroes advocating for you. Brian and BB had gotten much more involved when the IM went public. They had gotten me setup in an apartment( payed for by money that I had acquired in my time as a villain. ), trained the three of us in hero work, and even helped the IM make the transition to heroes.

Still, until my time with Miss Daniels, or Sally, I had not gotten to live in a home with such a loving atmosphere.

For the first few days we just got to know each other, with Mr. Transport coming home every evening. For a civilian she knew a shocking amount about the hero world, and she was happy to share her knowledge, to a point. The culture here was different, but most of the rules remained the same. If you knew someones secret, you kept it with your life. This world seemed to have more violence than back home, and it reflected that in its heroes.

That was a scary thought to me. I had never taken pleasure in needless violence. That was one reason I had wanted to get away from the villain world. At least being a hero let me have a purpose for fighting. The heroes here were skilled, and all were scary. None were the money hungry type that sometimes popped up back home. They all had gone through years of work to get to their jobs, and it showed.

Eventually we talked about my past. Sally looked like she wanted to commit a crime herself when she found out the age we started hero work. I tried to explain, but she was having none of it.

"Children your age have no place in that sort of work, much less any younger! I ll have none of it, don t even think of going back out there until you get certified!"

As I said, she was having none of it. When I expressed my interest in going back into the hero line of work( after getting certified, I made sure she knew that) she arranged for a workout partner to help me get back into shape.

I have to admit, I did not expect Ettin to show up for our appointment.

"Hey there, robot boy! How s the new world treating yah?" Ettin was, let us say, enthusiastic to be there.

"It is an adjustment, but Titan and Sally have been amazing, more than I could hope for."

"Yeah" He chuckled "They have their moments. Especially M- Sally. Good people. So I hear you want back into the hero game. It s going to be rough, but you may know that better than any other freshmeat to come into the HCP."

"I have done hero work for the last 4 years of my life, I know what I'm asking for." I tried not to sound annoyed, but I have to admit that going back to being a child was frustrating.

"I m sure you think you do. Let s see how that serves you in a fight though." With no warning he charged me, reminding me of Bull in an odd way. I jumped over his charge, and with no hesitation he twisted and headed for me again.

"Damn boy, you remind me of Chad. I look forward to taking out some unresolved anger on yah. Let s do this."

Claire

Alice was amazing. I had never met someone with so much poise. It was obvious she was a hero, no one was that well trained, in that good of shape, knew that many heroes, and just went to an office job all day. She never mentioned her work in detail, but I knew a bit more than she expected. Just because I had gotten sent off from home didn t mean I was going to slack on my job.

Her father had left her controlling share in her company, and from what I gathered, several others. When she left every morning she said she was off to the office, but her story didn't line up with her actions. I think she knew I had caught onto her lie, but she trusted that I could keep a secret.

One day, while trolling around the internet I found an interesting rabbit trail down a server I had not found before. That in itself was not to unusual, the darkweb was always changing, people moving proxies, or changing names and locations. The real kicker was that this one seemed to be an advertisement. I knew these types of boards from my hero ( and if I am being totally honest, my villain) work. They were usually a job board, and the security was a proof of skill. I was bored, what can I say. Just because I couldn t do active hero work didn t mean that I was going to sit on my fine derriere all day. Welllll, I may have spent some time working through the security, just to kill time, I swear! Once I got through though, I knew something was up.

"Hey there, EC. I know you ve been snooping around. Let s meet. 39.7985 N, 89.6554 W"

EC had to be Eclair. Only a select few knew about that part of my life, and most of them were on a separate earth. I was hooked. All my training told me to leave it the hell alone, but I d been stuck sleeping in an apartment for days, and I needed a challenge.

I sent Alice a text about going out on the town, and borrowing some clothes. I got on a subtle enough dress, but one that still showed enough skin to be appealing. The coordinates were easy enough, the challenge was finding out who knew me well enough to have heard that part of my story. I walked into a busy town square. The perfect place to have a clandestine meeting. People always coming and going, and everyone to busy with their own lives to care about you.

I found a cute bistro shop, and got a coffee and biscotti. Half of cat burglary is finding your entrance, and being patient enough to wait for it. So I sat, and watched. After 5 minutes of enjoying a truly nice cup of espresso, a bump.

Just subtle enough to play it off, but for someone who had trained with Misty The Minx Lutra it ma as well have screamed pickpocket . Normally I would be breaking some poor, unfortunate criminals fingers right now, but I suspected that this may be more than some poor saps attempt to get the fake wallet I was wearing. I waited, and under the guise of getting a tip for the waiter, I found exactly what I expected. A note had been slipped into my wallet.

This was an old tried and true tactic. I do love the classics. Palming it while setting down the cash I got up from my seat, and slowly made my way into the crowd. I quickly got a look at the note, which was thankfully not long winded.

"EC. Blue shirt, plaid pants. Sunglasses. Let's play a game."

I smiled. Finally, something that appealed to my more active side. With the description it took almost no effort to spot the target. Across the square, hot dog in hand.

He started moving almost as soon as I spotted him. Well, if he wanted to play, I ll play.

We started walking, him eating a hot dog, me watching him through my camera phone. We started slow, but he picked up speed. He headed through a crowd. Cute, but I m better than that. Walking out the other side I noticed he had changed his sunglasses, and added a hat. At least he was trying. Moving even faster he ducked into an alley. I followed on, and saw him hitting a roof top. I followed with a quick blast from my grappling hook, and we took it to the roofs.

My mysterious friend started sprinting across the roofs, and I followed. He was in damn good shape, or he had some physical enhancements. I saw him jump, catch a ledge, and flip up, making it look almost as good as I do. We continued making our way along, until he caught a fire escape, and dropped down to the ground. I shot my hook onto the same fire escape, and continued what was now a mad dash after him. I saw him spin around a building, and head inside an office buildings front door.

Now, I may be new to this earth, but I doubted much had changed when it came to security. I followed, taking no more than a second to hide away my grappling hook. I turned on my power just enough to have a general cloudy affect, and went into the same door way. There he was, making his way through the office like he owned the building, and the people in it. He had ditched the glasses, which was smart. They made him look like an ass.

I followed, giving the dumb struck guard a quick smile, and walked right by, keeping a bit of distance between my quarry and I. He walked into the main hall, and to an elevator. He pressed the up button, and I sidled up next to him, still on my phone, doing my best 'ditsy millennial" impression. We got into our car, me turning up my power just a little to convince everyone else that I really did need the whole elevator just to my self.

The young man turned to me and said in possibly the most snarky voice I've heard "Well, Clarie, how was your workout?"

"Workout? That was a light jog, at best. Next time I want a challenge. " I did my best to match the snarky tone, which was much easier than I wanted it to be.

"Actually, I have a challenge for you. That is the purpose of this meeting." With that remark he pulled out his phone, and the elevator froze in place.

"When you came into our world I began to do some research on you. The fact that you are living with my girlfriend not withstanding, I wanted to know all about the mysterious kids who appeared in the middle of Brewster. I had a friend of mine do some telepathic snooping, and low and behold, you happen to be from my metaphorical side of the tracks." He spoke with an ease that made it clear he was dangerous, without needing something as obvious as huge muscles, or a flaming aura.

"Your side of the tracks? I have no idea what you mean. You may have to enlighten me." I said, with as much fake innocence as I could muster without activating my power, and turning him to mush.

"I mean that while your work alongside heroes, you have a different way of approaching things. You are not the one who goes into battle and begins punching at monsters, you re the one who finds the creator of the monsters, and make sure he is neutralized. You re on the side of the light, but still play in the shadows."

I had suspected from the start that he was like me. A brain, more than a powerhouse. Now I knew for sure. He was like me, and I was thrilled to have a friend who was in my line of work.

Claire

"So I need to play distraction. Why not just have me pull up a bench and watch? I'll have just as much fun." I sounded a bit bitchy, but oh well.

"I want to employ you, and I need to get a sense of how potent your power is. This gives me an opportunity to do so in the field, and it gets you out of the house." Nick s voice had morphed from snarky and sarcastic to the voice of someone who had experience commanding troops in battle. I was curious as to what a man this young had seen, but given my past I was not going to question his experience.

"So I have to go along with this plan you have, with no information on the targets, and just use my powers for your gain, and I get nothing. You re going to need to offer me more than a chance at a job here." I may be pushy, but this was my comfort zone, and I knew I needed to lay down the law now.

"How about a jump start on the HCP? I know you and your friends are going to enroll next year. I also know in depth what the curriculum is, and hoe to best prepare in your limited time before enrollment. I can offer you knowledge that most students outside of legacies never get, and I can offer VERY profitable employment down the line."

So. He knew his shit. I was impressed, he had managed to push all the right buttons. Help me, my friends, and give me a shot to stretch my legs. Plus if he was telling the truth about a job later on, I would never be opposed to a cute paycheck.

"Ok. I like what you re selling. Just one more thing. I'm not going to use my powers on a mission without knowing the goal. What do you need a distraction for? And what s your name?"

"I m Nick. What do you know about the Charles Adair scandal ?"

The safe house was secluded, to say the least. I can respect that, but I always preferred the hiding in plain sight method. The plan, at least my part, was to turn my power up to its maximum, and draw out the agents inside. Apparently they had a ranged way to take down the people hiding inside, but no sure fire way of drawing them out. My power worked over a good range, so I should be able to encompass the entire house, putting everyone in side under my spell.

I had never liked using my full power. It made me feel almost dirty. As a kid my max level was enough to draw in some one, and make them loose focus, and make them highly suggestible. Now my high end was near brainwashing. I hated to use it at all, but sometimes you had to do something unpleasant to succeed in a mission. I had my grappling hook, and my energy gloves. I wanted to stay defensive, and the ability to throw an energy attack away from my self and my team seemed like my best bet right now.

Nick had showed up with a tall Asian man named Jerome, and the young hero I recognized as Coma.

"Ok nick, I m making my approach. Coma may be immune to my power, but I doubt you or Jerome is. I recommend closing your eyes." I turned my power up to it's max, and slid up to the house in my bear costume.

"Hey in there!" I yelled with my "cute and innocent" voice. "I have cookies for sale, and I would love to give you all a sample! Come on out!"

The poor bastards had no chance. My power at this level would be enough to make someone shoot their best friend, so getting them to walk outside for cookies was a joke. As soon as they were out Coma started walking up. She was smart about it, keeping to the shadows, but she could have walked up with a full marching band and they wouldn't have noticed.

They went down easy. Four professionals, who had seen combat and horrors, taken down by a girl with cuteness powers.

Author note

Hello all. I want to apologize for the issues with this chapter's punctuation. Thanks to the person who told me to fix my damn quotation marks! There was an issue during upload, and a lot of my original punctuation and formatting got removed. I am editing both chapters now, and will double check the upload in the future. So sorry for the problems.


	2. Chapter 2

Ray

Ettin and I had been training on and off for several weeks now. I honestly felt like I was fighting Bull at first, but Ettin was made all the more dangerous by his bat. Bull had always relied on his near indestructible body to act as a shield and a weapon. Ettin did the same thing, but that damned bat of his added range, and it was a nightmare to fight off.

I did feel like I was making some progress, but I never had a doubt that in a real fight the most I could do was run away, or play distraction. Ettin was FAR stronger than I am, but I could outspeed him, and I was more flexible. I had the feeling that he spent his time training the be stronger, but I had spent time doing gymnastics and parkour. It came in handy when I was running away, but when I tried to fight him it was near useless. I needed to train more, and I knew that better than ever.

Ettin had given me a workout plan, and I followed it to a T. Miss Daniels, I mean Sally, had been so supportive of me, and I knew she had experience raising heroes. I never got personal, but it was obvious after living with her for weeks. She always asked how training had gone, was always on board with my extra work, and the FOOD was always amazing. My metabolism was bad enough back home, but now that I had really kicked up the training I was almost always starving. Sally never missed a beat, always saying how she loved a man with a good appetite.

Friday seemed to be a normal( well, normal is subjective in the hero world ) day of training with Ettin. We had plans to go out to a rock quarry and do some sparring, along with some weight training. Titan had told me when I first started that the gym was a decent way to build muscle, but it left out all the non major muscle groups, and the stabilizing muscles that were worked in actual labor. I had never been a gym rat, so this was not a great blow to me. He had taken me to a junk yard that was local, and that I could easily run to with my enhanced speed. There he had put me through Ettin's workout plan, using cars, axles, and other junk instead of the machines in a gym. I had to admit, the plan seemed to be working. I was getting stronger, and my speed and reflexes were growing from the sparring and parkour I did in my downtime and with Ettin.

Sorry, I got off track there. Friday was looking to be a normal training day, but when Ettin showed up I could tell from the glint in his eye there was some thing special in store. He never looked quite that happy without something up his sleeve.

"Come along Ray. We got a little field trip to take today." He said it with such palpable glee I was a bit worried.

"Should I update my last will and testament ?" I asked with as little snark as I could manage.

"Only if you plan on acting like an idiot, and I don't expect that from a sharp guy like you."

"How comforting." I still managed to keep most of the snark out of my voice, but not as much as I would have liked.

"Today we're going to take advantage of the fact that, outside of high level DVA officials, you don't exist. You're coming on patrol with me." He still had that glint in his eyes, but at least now I knew why.

"I thought I wasn't allowed to be involved in hero work without my license ?" I said it mostly out of formality, since this much time out of the life had made me slightly stir crazy.

"Oh, you're not coming to do hero work, you're coming to watch a semi-famous hero, since you're such a super fan. Publicly I am off line, and this is just a PR move. You were the lucky winner of a private online raffle, that won you a day with your favorite hero. I have to say, I am flattered that you voted so many times, just for a day with little old me. Sorry to disappoint you, but I prefer the ladies in my off hours, if you know what I mean." Ettin spoke with such mirth that I knew he had been planning on this little speel for some time now.

"Now now Ettin, you know I wouldn't hurt Penny like that. Not to mention that Claire would have my testicles tacked to a wall if I ever hurt her best friend. But if we ever break up, I'll keep you in mind." I winked as I said that last part, just to add some spice. Upon mention of Claire though Ettin flinched a little bit.

"That is one little girl you would not want to piss off. I hear she has some skills, and she seems like the type to have a vengeful streak. Best to leave any extracurriculars off the table, if you catch my meaning." Ettin started to turn away towards the door at that, and I followed him.

We soon came onto Mr. Transport, standing in the foyer, and with a nod we were back in Brewster, and Mr. Transport was gone, off without a word. I wondered what that man did in his day job , but I knew better than to ask questions that would not only deny me answers, but possibly piss off the very people who were protecting me.

Ettin started walking down a semi-metropolitan street, bat in hand, waving occasionally, and generally making a show of things. He seemed to be playing up the fact that we were supposed to be seen, and I did my best to play the awestruck fanboy, following close behind, with a stupid look on my face. Whenever Ettin made some small talk around civilians I just gave one or two word answers, and generally tried to play up the "I spent way to much time trying to get this, and now I am finally here, and I don't know what to do" angle.

We did our rounds quickly, but not trying to jostle the other pedestrians. We had stayed away from downtown, so it was busy, but not too crowded. Lots of mid-level office building, shops, and sometimes a road that led down to a row of houses that were no doubt very pricey.

Occasionally I got a hint of the super-powered lives that intertwined with the mundane here, though not nearly as strongly as I had in LA. I saw a woman with wings flying above us, satchel around her shoulders, and what looked like a courier uniform on. I caught sight of a man leaking light off his skin, walking into a boutique clothing shop. Another man who seemed to be carrying a crate that was far too heavy for his frame walked from a truck into the back of a store, never tripping up, or even seeming weighed down by his load.

It was a weird reminder of home, but it was also so different, somehow more mundane and orderly that it made me miss LA, just a bit. That feeling left when I remembered the things, and people, I had been lucky enough to leave behind. This world may not have the magic of home( literally and figuratively), but it had Penny and Claire, and for me, that was more than enough.

As we got into a lower income area, and people thinned out Ettin cut out the bullshit small talk, and started giving me the rundown. He pointed out the people who seemed to be malformed, or just the slightest bit inhuman. There was a man with a tail, poking from a hole in his blue jeans, another who was covered in fur, and a woman who seemed to float up and down, bobbing without cause or meaning. I knew from mine and Claire's research that these were likely powereds, and while a cure was on the way, these people still had to live out their lives until it was ready.

I knew that some hated these people, and I knew that some pitied them. I also knew that Ettin used to be one of them, so I kept my mouth shut about any pity I may have felt. I had lived with people pitying me for my station in life long enough to know that pity, no matter how well meant, was shit to those who received it. The only real help was action.

We kept walking, into progressively worse off neighborhoods. I did not really fear for myself, due to my own power, and to the fact that I was in the company of a powerful protector.

Of course it was likely that level of apathy that let my attention slip away from my environment. Ever since Penny had made my powers my senses had been getting stronger. It started off small, just no longer needing my glasses, hearing was a bit better, all that. Over the years my senses had grown continuously, slowly getting better and better. They usually acted as a sort of early warning system, but only if I bothered to pay attention. I had not bothered to keep them on alert, since this was supposed to be nothing more than a simple walk. That had been a mistake.

Three men jumped from a blind alley, right as Ettin and I passed by. Immediately Ettin yelled "Ray, get covered, and stay out of my way!"

I, of course, did what I was told. I had no intention of going to jail, not when Ettin had proven to me time and again he could take care of himself, far better than even I could.

I leaped over the heads of the three poor saps that thought to attack my friend, and clasped a rather rickety fire escape hanging off a rundown apartment building. I flipped over and onto it, staying where I could watch the show, but far enough away that Ettin would hopefully not chew me out later on.

The three surrounded him, and in seconds the street had cleared of the few people that had been sitting on porches, and walking the sidewalks. People here were not nearly as jaded as they were back home, and they cleared out when something was about to go down.

They started growling, and almost at once one man leaped onto Ettin's shoulders, one grabbed his legs, and the one in front of him took a swing at his gut. These three were obviously not the smartest of the bunch. I knew from personal experience that when you had a strength fighter on your hands you wanted to stay mobile, and more importantly, out of his or her reach. Why this was the best strategy became evident in short order.

As soon as the one who had jumped onto his shoulders had clasped onto Ettin he turned to what seemed to be rock, gray and rough. While I was sure that this shift had added a lot of weight to the criminal, Ettin didn't even seem to notice the difference. The one who had stayed standing made his punch, and it glanced off Ettin's chest.

Even from my perch above I could easily hear Ettin growl at that.

"Big mistake, motherfuckers. I'll only give you the pain free option once. Lay down, and you get to stay in one piece. Otherwise I get to have a bit of fun." I could hear that he was deadly serious about that threat, but the criminals seemed to have missed the memo.

The one who had thrown the VERY ineffective punch just laughed at Ettin's ultimatum.

"You fucking heroes always think you're so high and mighty, gracing our little neighborhood with your glory. This should teach a baby like you to stick to the city, and stay off our terf!"

Roy nodded, still seemingly unbothered by the rock man on his back. "Well, I did warn you boys."

With that he seemed to transform from a man into a warrior. I knew he held back while we were sparring, but I never knew how much until now. He grabbed the arm wrapped around his neck, and just broke it off. Like it was a dead twig on a tree. The man it belonged to yoweled in pain, and dropped onto the dummy that had tried to keep Ettin's legs held. While Ettin may not be effected by the weight of the rock transformation, the man below him certainly was. He cried out as rock dude fell from Ettin, and onto his back. With one smooth movement he swung the (still made of rock ) arm at the man who had punched him in the gut, aiming to break or dislocate his arm. He hit, and the rock arm shattered on impact, not making a noticeable impact on the criminal he hit.

"Well now, aren't you just a tough one." Ettin stepped over the disabled criminals below him, and quickly grabbed the arm he had just hit, squeezing hard enough that I could easily hear the bones snapping under his hand.

"Being tough just means I have to hold back a little less, ya know. It really don't do much but annoy me. That ain't good for someone in your position." As he spoke the criminal in his grasp screamed in pain, and Ettin sent a kick into his knee, hard enough that it bent back in the wrong direction.

The man screamed again, and I nearly felt bad. But I had no place to complain. These men were criminals, and had attacked a hero in the streets, with no care for the damage or hurt their fight may cause. This was not the type of area a long, drawn out battle could take place. Here people could be hurt or even killed if a fight got too violent. Ettin had done his job, and as hard as it was to watch I had to be satisfied that he had done it to the best of his ability, making the civilians a priority over men who had put them in danger.

With all three men in no shape to fight Ettin put his finger to his ear, and spoke into an earpiece I hadn't noticed him wearing.

"Dispatch, I got an ambush at the corner of maple and 17th, three attackers, all subdued. No casualties, seem like three strong men types, one that turns himself to rock. Could ya send over a crew to get them taken in?" Roy spoke like he hadn't just taken on a surprise attack by three guys, but I suppose that was what the hero life did to you.

I could barely overhear the words that came back from the earpiece, since it was likely designed to minimize the amount of sound leakage. Nevertheless I could just make it out.

"Understood Ettin. Response and cleanup teams are two and a half minutes out. Do you need backup or containment ?"

"Nah, these three know to stay down." Roy projected that far louder than needed, as a reminder to the three crooks on the ground, all still groaning in pain.

"Understood."

I jumped off my perch, and landed in what I hope was a graceful manner.

"Well, I suppose that is one way to keep a field trip interesting." I grinned at Ettin, and gave him my best innocent expression.

"Ray, you make understatement an art."

Penny

I finally came back into my own head, just in time to hear the last of my maniacal laugh. Of course, my first impression had to be the crazy mad scientist look.

I turned over too look at Will, and to apologize for the crazy I had just spilled all over his lab, er, house.

"Sorry about that, my power goes a bit overboard on the mad scientist thing some days. I hope the mess isn't to bad this time." I gave my apology to a shell shocked Will.

"I must admit, that was impressive. You're power must add some dexterity and strength. I have never seen anyone move like that, and I have seen quite a lot in my career. Now, what did you make? "Will spoke with respect, which was a nice reminder of how fun my power was to work with.

"My dad theorized that the physical enhancements come and go along with my power, since when I work in my normal state I only have base human dexterity. As for what I built, that I don't really know . My power is strong, and can build most anything, but a side effect is that I loose a lot of the specifics on how my toys work. I kinda have to coax it out with an idea, and it goes with that, but sometimes in really odd ways. One time I wanted an air conditioner for the lab, but my power made a cannon that shot cooled air. It worked like what I asked for, but it also acted as a weapon." At this point in my career I had gotten pretty used to explained how my power worked, and also gotten used to the standard reactions.

Will did not give one of those standard reactions.

"Fascinating. I wonder if any other physical effects come about from the use of your power. Have you ever demonstrated any signs of super-strength or enhanced durability?" He was genuinely curious, and that was a nice change. Most people just got freaked out, or went down the "OMG so KoOl" road.

"Not that I know of. I still have to use tools, and I remember getting some small burns and injuries while working, but nothing too serious. I have to say, you're taking this quite well."

"I have been around long enough to see a lot of odd things. A power induced trance is odd, but it does not really break my top 20 . "He walked over to the bench I was working off of, and picked up my new toy. It looked like I had attached it to my protective suit, so it was likely a modification or upgrade. Oddly it seemed to have fallen into the clockwork half of my power.

I looked over his shoulder, trying to get my power to shoot me a hint of what I had built. It looked like a set of football shoulder pads, but that was not really an indicator of what it did.

"Let me put it on real quick. I think it may connect to the virtual interface built into the helmet screen." I grabbed the suit, now quite a bit heavier, and started putting it on. I loved this thing, and my power seemed to like inventing upgrades for it. It had even made Brenda for me, which was another favorite of mine.

Brenda was an AI that controlled my suits systems, and could act as a targeting and defense system when I was occupied. Somehow she could talk with Vera, and they worked as a coordinated defense, with the suits long range weapons firing around Vera, who worked both short and long range, plus electronic distraction and jamming. All in all they seemed to get along well, which was good, since my power had made them both powerful, and two fighting AIs would be a big pain to deal with.

I finished slipping my suit on, Will watching in fascination as the shoulder pads parted to let me in, and then they closed right back up. Once I got inside I woke Brenda up, and started going through my systems list. I still had no clue why my power write all my instructions in Russian, but I had gotten to a passable state reading the language.

"I found it!" I bellowed out to Will. "It says Uh, shocky thing. Great. I think I read that right. Do you have a good place to test this? I don't want to do any "shocky thing" inside of you apartment."

"What do you mean reading that right ? And yes, I have a good place I use to test my own inventions sometimes. We can get there quickly via car."

"My power sometimes writes instructions, but she only writes in Russian. I think she just does it as a prank, but I have gotten to a passable level of Russian. I just don t want to stake your equipment on my understanding of the language. Let's hit your testing site. I think I have a good substitute for the car though..." I tried to keep my excitement out of my voice, but I failed entirely. I just have WAY to much fun testing out my new toys. My superpower is sooo cool.

Penny

We flew along on my light bike, Will clutching onto my suit. He was holding up surprisingly well. Maybe not so surprising, since I was pretty much positive he was a hero.

We got to the location, Brenda guiding the bike along, leaving me to just hold on, and enjoy the ride.

The location in question was relatively close, but still secluded. It seemed to be nothing more than an empty field, but the holes and pock marks proved that someone had been using it. Will jumped off the bike, and headed towards the area with the most damage.

"Come over here, I think this will amuse you!"

I ran over, excited to see what new toy he was going to bring out. He pulled out what looked like a cars keyfob, but covered in duck tape, and obviously with extra parts shoved inside. He pushed a button twice, and suddenly targets popped out of the ground, and began to move. Some were slow, like the person walking their dog, and some moved faster than I could sprint. They were all made of what looked like card board, and moved over the ground using some means that I couldn't puzzle out.

"This is my practice range, where I train and test new weapons and designs. Unlike your power I have to do quite a bit of testing and modification to my devices to get them to the level I need. This is where that happens, and I believe it will meet your needs as well." He spoke with a familiar pride, something that seemed to span dimensions. Mad scientists would always be proud of their toys

"Crimminey ! "I gave up on hiding my excitement. This was just to cool! "This place is amazing! And I don't have to worry about someone getting hurt if I misguess what a new toy does!"

I activated the new option on Brenda's menu, and I felt two pops on my shoulders. Swiveling my head awkwardly in the suit I saw what looked like turrets, though admittedly made of spinning gears, and OH Crud! Was that Aether!? I looked harder, and I was almost certain it was. Back on Jupiter colonies I was exposed to a new energy, called Aether, but I had never gotten around to figuring it out. It seemed my power had decided it was time to get on that.

"Brenda, activate targeting systems. I want to give this baby a go!" I was nearly giddy. OK, I was totally giddy. I had a new toy, and my power had gotten a new fascination! This was SO much better than the bomb phase a few years back.

"OK Brenda, lets do the guy with the machete, and the woman holding the pistol. Shoot for the legs please." I found it was easier to let Brenda handle the first few rounds of testing, and then I could take what I learned there, and use it myself.

Will stood to my side, watching me with the same fascination I had when my dad worked.

Brenda was not one to disappoint. Make nasty comments on my heads up display, yes, but she never failed when it came to weapons. The turrets began to vibrate slightly, and suddenly there was a brief flash, and two tiny blue disks of light shot out in different directions, and a leg exploded off each target I had requested.

"OH YEAH!" I yelled, with maybe just a touch to much glee in my voice.

"Very impressive I have to ask, who is Brenda?" Will sounded impressed, and I could not be happier. He was the only other mad scientist I had met so far, and I wanted to be sure to make a name for myself.

"Brenda is my suits AI. She can handle my targeting systems, and has a defense mode, but those take up a lot of processing power, so I like to handle my own fights. I just had her give the cannons a go since she seems to be able to interface with my inventions, even when I don't really get know what they do. Now that I know what these babies can do, and have an idea of their power I can shoot them myself, and only rely on Brenda if I'm occupied with another task."

Will looked shocked. I had driven here on a bike made of solid light, and nothing. Mention Brenda, and he looks shocked?

"What? I know I blew their legs off, but it's just cardboard."

"What!? No, just, AI is not possible. Or, it wasn't . No one has ever created an AI successfully! How did you do it? How can you prove that it is AI, and not just a program? What does the AI's personality have to do with performance, and can it interfere in battle? I need to look at this Brenda !"

From there on the day kinda devolved into Brenda making fun of things, and Will having a heart attack.

Claire

Nick had delivered on his end of the deal. He had Will working with Penny, Ettin helping train Ray, and Alice was working with me. I still kept up with him, but he had a life. Several, actually. It was almost impressive. I only had to keep up with two lives, but he had three going at any given time, plus other characters to pick up when needed. I had to admit, when it came to the social aspect of our work he had me beat. I have skills, don't misunderstand, but that man put me to shame. Thankfully I was a MUCH better burglar than him, so I at least got to hold that over his head.

We had fun times, and I learned a lot. I had depended on my power when it came to the human aspect of sneak work, but he helped me learn that there are other ways. Alice was less than thrilled, to say the least. That was a stare off for the ages. I had heard stories about Legionnaire winning a battle by staying awake through a 30 hour staring contest, but I never thought I would be able to see a live reenactment of the event.

I suppose not all would consider seeing how many business cards for a popular strip club you could plant in old white ladies purses would be a fun outing, but for us sneaks it is the height of good time living. The trip where we convinced people to sign a petition for the most endangered species of pigeon in New York was a good opportunity to learn some social manipulation skills, and helping Nick on his political campaign( doing opposition research, of course) was always a good time. I had kept up with my workouts( Nick promised that there was no way to be TOO in shape for the HCP) and I made sure that Penny got out of the house to exercise with me, even though her power was mostly mental. I had gotten a lot of good information off Nick, so there was no way my best friend was going to go down to the first round of cuts due to not getting enough exercise.

Ray on the other hand was getting a good workout on the daily. I was so happy to see that boy finally be in a good relationship with an adult other than Penny or our parents. I knew he had been through a lot, more than even Penny understood. He never knew, but I worked a bit behind the scenes, slowing down his parents, and helping Brian get him emancipated. I didn't want to over step my bounds, but I also wasn't willing to see one of my friends hurt by his own family.

Now that we all had our training going full blast there was only one more big thing on my agenda. Any professional, hero or villain, knew that one of the most important things to have was a place to lay low. The IM had been bunking at our friends houses and apartments, but that was just not sustainable. These were people that had lives and families, and we couldn't just take over their space. I needed to find us a hide out. Thankfully Nick was a person with some, creative real estate connections, let us say. I brought it up to him over an afternoon of opposition research, which amounted to spying on some low level politician while he cheated on his poor wife.

"You really want a lair?" Nick said with a mix of amusement and possibly surprise in his voice.

"Come on Nick. You know that the three of us can't keep living with other people, and Penny needs a space for her work. Ray needs a place to train and workout, and I could use a good place to set up a network command center."

He nodded while looking through a camera lens into a hotel room. We were perched atop the roof of another hotel, with an ideal vantage point for staring into the top floor rooms.

"I agree that Penny needs a good workshop, but you three don't have to get your own places yet. Once you start the HCP there will be dorms for you all, and summer accommodations will be easy enough to come up with." He continued to stare through the lens, never taking his eyes off his target.

"It's not just about having a place to sleep, it's about us having a home again. Ray is doing really well with Sally, but the rest of us are more adjusted to living alone, and part of that is having our own space. We need a home base, a safe place to hide, and our lairs have always been that place." I kept my voice to a reasonable level, which was not easy considering the winds atop the buildings roof.

"I get it. I can do some looking for a place to pick up on the cheap. Penny will most likely have to bankroll the place though, since the stipend I pay you won't be near enough to buy a piece of land outright." He continued to speak while spying, snapping a photo of something I couldn't see without my own equipment.

"I know, and I'm fine with that. Penny has always been our leader, and I trust her with my life, much less something as trivial as the title to our base."

"Ok then. I'll send some possible places for you to look over, and then send to Penny for farther investigation."

"Thanks Nick. I know you don't take favors lightly." I kept my voice neutral, but I knew that there would likely be a price to pay for the work I was asking of him.

"You're right. I don't. But I have just the idea for how you can re-pay me..."

Penny

Will had been having a nerdgasm over my babies. I still hadn't shown him all my toys, but the ones he had gotten to see had caused quite the stir. I loved getting to show off a bit, and this scratched that itch beautifully. Brenda was still a favorite of his, and she was growing to like him too. Not as much as Ray and Claire, but she had stopped insulting his hair on a regular basis, so it was getting better. The teleport rings were something else he had lost it over. I was so proud! Crimminey, getting to impress another mad scientist was a wonderful feeling.

I loved my job too! I had known back in my villain days that I could make good money working for a legitimate company, or on my own, but this was a new deal for me. I never even felt bad, since I was still getting to help people! I hated not being on the streets, patrolling, and stopping criminals, but this was a nice substitute for that. I had been saving my contract money, since Will had insisted on continuing to house me. I was flattered, but I knew I needed to get my own place soon.

That made Claire's call about a potential base all the more exciting. I was thrilled just thinking about getting my own lab again, and making myself some cool new tools. I hated not having all my old toys, but the best part of being a mad scientist was building new ones.

Claire had picked up Ray from Sally's house, and shown up on Will's front door grasping the hand of a women in a dark suit. Come to think of it, the outfit looked strangely familiar. It dawned on me that Transport was often wearing that same style and color of suit. I wondered if there was a connection, or if they both just happened looked good in black. I knew that Ray looked delectable in black, so it was possible that it was just a common color choice. But I also knew better than to act like an amateur and start asking personal questions like that.

We all got into a car that Claire had somehow procured, and started heading out of main town Brewster. The trip was longer than I expected, but most of that was because Claire had started obeying traffic laws for no apparent reason. I suppose it was an improvement over the way she usually drove. Her teacher had been Lucifar, so she had an excuse.

Ray and I held hands in the back seat, making up for some of the time spent away. We still saw each other weekly, at least, but it was a far cry from when we nearly lived together in the lair back home. I missed those times, but I knew that this was just another season for us to make it through. Our relationship had made it through space travel, mind control, homicidal toasters, and even a psychic bunny invasion. We could make it through a few weeks of long distance living.

Once we got to the location Claire had apparently been aiming for I was slightly amused. I knew bases were usually hidden, but this was extreme. We all stood in a field, dirt road the only apparent way in or out, next to a natural gorge that had somehow lost the river that created it. There wasn't another person in sight, much less an obvious entrance to our new base.

"Come on guys! It's down here!" Claire had affected her usual off work persona of a "basic white girl", complete with a Starbucks obsession.

She skipped along, making good use of her above average strength and agility.

"May I assist my dark lady?" Ray asked, causing me to flash back to our old days together.

"Of course, my adorable minion. Take me down to the pit!" I grinned as my boyfriend lifted me with no effort at all, and jumped down after Claire,directly into the gorge.

Once down in the stone chasm I saw the signs of a security system that had been long ago destroyed. I would just have to make a new one, if we decided to buy the place. We headed along a surprisingly easy path, until we got to a large flat stone that I assumed was the door.

"Claire, did your contact give you a way INTO the base, or just the location?" I asked, knowing that my friend was smart enough to have thought much farther ahead than that.

"But of course!"She giggled out.

She pulled out a garage door opener, or something that had the same look as one. She clicked the big button once, and the door flew up with no hesitation.

"Impressive!" Ray growled. Well, maybe he didn't growl, but I liked it he growled, so I kinda inserted that tone of voice into a lot of conversations.

"Let's get going love birds!" Claire skipped forward, with not a care in the world. At least not on the surface. I knew my team, and I knew my friends. She was always thinking, always planning. She just knew how to make people underestimate her.

Ray and I followed, hand in hand, savoring the time we had together until we had to separate again.

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO

Hero name- Impact.

Civilian name- Ariel baker.

Meeting- HCP admission meeting.

Time- 2:17 AM.

Meeting Attendees-

Dean- Ariel Baker

Control Professor- Samantha Jones

Focus professor- Esme Stone

Close Combat Professor- Carl Fletcher

Weapons professor- Sonya Cole

Ranged combat professor- Ramon Simmonds

Subtlety professor- Sean Pendleton

"Could we really not have waited to do this until after we had a few hours of sleep?" Sean complained.

"Sean, you know very well that we are already behind on these, and the explosion in the SIM storage unit did nothing to help our time table."Ariel Baker, the new dean of the Lander HCP, and the hero known as Impact, stood at the head of a table full clearly tired professors. The explosion had been unfortunate, but these things did happen when testing new types of equipment. And it was far better for an accident to happen to a group of highly trained professors, rather than the students.

"I know Ariel, but I can still bitch about it. That is my only useful skill, to be honest."

"Sean, shut up already." The normally stoic Ramon was wearing thin. Even after years as a hero, the prospect of not sleeping for 40 hours straight put him in a bad mood. Add to that the fact that this process had not gotten easy for the new professor, and his annoyance was slipping through.

Esme cut in, acting as the de facto adult in any given situation. "Both of you be quite. The faster we get this done the faster we all sleep. What do you have for us Dean?"

Ariel motioned to a huge stack of folders, and Esme easily sent one section to each professor.

"These are the students that have made it through all the selection processes so far. Tonight we need to deal with the final admissions, so they can be sent to the freshmen we accept. Everyone grab the top folder, and let's dive into it."

This method was slightly different from Deans Blaine's, but Ariel was a fan of trying new things.

"Damn. I forgot Overgrowth had family. This is an easy acceptance from me." Carl Fletcher looked around the table as the others scanned the file. One by one they all nodded.

"I agree. This level of power, along with the training she has already received makes her a great candidate. The only thing we need to look into is the psychological aspects of being the niece of an HCP. Dr. Moran will likely be needed to make sure that she stays healthy mentally. That is a lot of expectation for a young girl. "The new control professor, Samantha, chimed in.

The table all nodded, easily making their decision.

The whole table then grabbed the next file off their stacks, and the process began anew.

The final three files were labeled differently.

"These three are a special case in the admissions department." Ariel said to her weary professors. "I would ask that you all read the briefing on the front page, and then we shall discuss their admission."

The professors did as ordered, and Ariel watched as they all went on a silent face journey though the file. She knew how they felt. Even in the hero world these cases were weird.

Sean spoke first. "What the fuck. I almost hope this is a joke."

The others turned to her, all with similar looks on their faces.

"I assure you it is not at all a joke. This is very real, and these are students that will be accepted into an HCP this year. The DVA will see to that. We are the first choice, since we have a history of test cases. Beyond that these three have more than enough power to make it into our normal freshman class. If you would take a moment and look at the rest of the three files contents I think you will agree with my assessment." Ariel kept her voice professional and calm, not giving away the fact that she too was surprised and almost disturbed by the concept of other worlds.

"The first one would likely fall into my department, with a psychic based power." Esme was the first to speak, the others still making their way through the files.

"Normally, yes. But if you look under her skill assessment you can see that she will most likely fall into the subtlety category. She comes highly recommended from some one in that field, and that's after only a few months on this earth."

Sean switched folders, obviously interested in the subject at hand." Damn. That is impressive. I don't know of another power quite like that one. And her skills are spoken highly of."

Carl spoke next. "I agree with Sean on this. That could be very useful both in battle and in the subtlety field. If she proves to be as skilled as these assessments claim."

"Is no one going to bring up the girl who somehow broke the AI barrier, and created dozens of other inventions that cannot be explained by even our best tech supers?" Sonya said in her usual uninterested tone.

"We're going to cover them all, Sonya, but yes, she is very impressive. She also has combat experience, which is even more impressive for tech supers."

Carl spoke again, this time in a more worried voice. "It says that these three were active heroes on their earth from age 13. I worry that they may be too violent for the HCP, or they may have some trauma lingering from that. This life is hard for fully trained adults. I can't imagine what it would be like for children being shoved into that."

"I agree with Carl on both points." Esme said.

"Those are valid concerns, and we will be able to have them thoroughly vetted before letting them fight other students. The issue is that these WILL be students in the HCP come next year. The DVA has made that clear to me. I propose that we look at them as the strong candidates they are, and try and work with their past, rather than let them go to a different school."

"She may be right on that count." Ramon spoke, voice still with a bit of edge, despite the full pot of coffee he had consumed during the meeting. "These are strong kids, and they have training coming into the program, something that most students lack. We can either take them on, and train them to the best of our abilities, or we can let them go to a different school. I say we take them on."

"Why not both". Esme said. "We could vet them pre-admission, and judge them on that. If they cannot keep their powers in control, or if they get too violent, then we have basis for blocking their admission. If they perform well then we get three excellent candidates."

Ariel looked around the room, checking the faces of the other professors. One stuck out, the ever sarcastic Sean Pendleton.

"Sean, do you have something to get off your chest?"

"Yes. Your drinking has affected me in the following ways..."

Groans flew from the other professors, and Sean grinned.

"I am concerned about the tech super, Penny. She seems to have a set of control issues all her own. The files mention some of her creations, but no one has mentioned the fact that she seems to border the powered/super line. How can we make sure she is dependable if she is not sure exactly what she is creating?" Sean did not speak with any distaste towards powereds, for many reasons, not the least of which was having a powered sister and formerly powered niece.

Ariel nodded from the head of the table, showing more patience than any human or super should be able to manage in the face of Sean Pendleton.

"I had the same concern, and the way her supervisor explained it was that she has the ability to coax out her superpower, which then does the actual building. He suspects it is a transformation ability of some sort, but we have not gotten the evidence to back that. She can shut down any idea or tool she deems too dangerous, and has a measure of control over what her power decides to create. I think she has the control to be admitted, and then from there her control will only grow with proper training. "

Sean nodded. "Good enough for me. I may not be a tech based super, but I know a good deal about what they can do. She is impressive, honestly beyond what I have seen anywhere else. She also seems to be able to put her tools and weapons to excellent use. I look forward to training her."

"Then we are agreed. We will test the students for admission, and decide after the on their status." Ariel looked relieved as she made her announcement, and she was happy to finally get some sleep, a sentiment that was clearly echoed around the room.

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Authors note

Hello all. I figured I should go over a few things before we go any farther in the story. First of all is that I love to mess with canon. There are some things I really just want to change, so I do. In this story I am going to change relatively few things. I don't want to reveal them all here, but there are a few changes.

This is a crossover story, but FF.N does not have the option for the superpowereds world. There is some very good SP fanfic on the SP website, I recommend you check it out if you like original story.

For those of you who are not familiar with the SP world, it is pretty amazing. Drew Hayes is the author of the series, and two spinoffs, all of which are great. The basis of the world is that there are two groups of superpowered people, supers and powereds. The supers have control, while the powereds are not able to harness their powers. Over the course of the original series a cure was found for powereds, and it lets them become supers. This story is based about a year after the end of book four of the SP series, and it follows the IM crew through learning about this new world. We get to meet up with the Melbrook crew, and meet some new peeps along the way.

Please let me know if you spot a typo, punctuation mistake, or if you just hate me and everything I have ever written.


	3. chapter 3

Claire

Stacy was the first to arrive at Melbrook. One look at her and I knew she was one of the rare few who knew what they were getting into. She had the same look as Claudia, back home. She wasn't going into this blind, and that meant that she was going to be competition. Anyone with information on their side could be a threat, regardless of their power. That was what made Penny's mom such a nightmare to fight. Information.

I had to be sure that the three of us graduated. Nick had filled me in on the numbers that went into, and came out of, the HCP and I knew that we had to be three of those special ten. If Stacy was another of that ten, then so be it. I had never been adverse to some healthy competition.

I put on my best "friendly and harmless" face. My plan for the first year or two of this schooling was to fly under the radar, and be constantly underestimated. It's kinda my thing.

"Hi there! I'm Claire, and these two love birds are our new room mates, Penny and Ray! Nice to meet you! What's your name? Oooh! What's your power do? Is it super cool and powerful and awesome!?" I turned on just the slightest hint of my own power, and started jabbering at her. I wanted to keep this girl off guard, and maybe get some helpful information.

She looked a bit shell shocked at the outburst. Good, off guard is a good start.

"Uh. Hi, Claire. Nice to meet you? I'm Stacy. Hi Penny, Ray. "

Penny and Ray waved at her. Penny was obviously holding back laughter, and Ray looked amused, which was about as animated as he got around new people in social situations.

"Hi Stacy. We apologize for the onslaught of Claire, but it's pretty much impossible to hold her back, so we gave up trying. It's nice to meet you, and hopefully Claire will lose steam soon. " Penny spoke in a light tone, friendly and open. She knew her way around a first impression, thankfully.

Ray stepped forward, and bowed. " It is a delight to meet such a lovely lady. Might I welcome you to our new home at Lander? " Ray was in his "British and charming" gear, and I personally think it works well for him.

Stacy was recovering quickly, but that was to be expected. " Thank you both, and it's nice to meet you two as well. Am I the last one here? "

"Nope!" I grinned at her. " We're supposed to have one more roommate, and a chaperone. I can't wait to see who they are! It's so exciting!" I laid it on thick, hoping to keep myself firmly in the " non-threatening " part of her mind.

"Well, I'm glad to not be the latest to arrive, but I'll keep my power to myself. At least for now. I don't know if you've been told yet, but we have to do combat trials on the first day, and I'd like to keep my secrets in the bag until at least that part is handled." Stacy still looked a bit overdone, but she held it together.

Plus, she had foreknowledge that most students don't. Interesting.

"We have to fight?! On the first day?" I said in a shocked, but still adorable voice. I didn't want to give up all my secrets just yet.

"Yeah, all the HCPs rank their students by combat, usually on the first day of class. It's a surefire way to weed out the ones who don't want to work through pain, or have weak wills. " Stacy spoke with a confidence that said this was not news to her, so she likely had known this fact for some while. Maybe even years.

I wondered if we had a legacy on our hands, since she was so in the loop.

"Well, I'm not much of a fighter, but I'll do my best! I want to be a hero! I'm not going to let that stop me!" I kept my cheer up, playing down my own abilities.

Ray and Penny had looked on to this point, letting me do my thing, but at this point Ray stepped in to save our new roomie.

" Do you need any help with your luggage Stacy? We would be happy to help you move in. " Ray stepped forward with his offer, giving a winning smile, Penny following with a smile of her own.

" Blink twice if you just want us to get you away from Claire." Penny said in a joking tone.

"Thanks, but I packed light, so if you can show me where to unload I'll be good to go." Stacy was looking more comfortable, which was a good sign. I didn't want to scare off a potential asset, especially one with good connections in the hero world.

" Your room is right through here." Penny said, heading towards one of the doors that held our bedrooms.

"Thanks, I'd like to get everything set down, and grab a bite soon. But I guess that'll have to wait for after our meeting with the chaperone. "

"Good idea! We should all go and get lunch together !" I said. It was an excellent opportunity to get some more information on Stacy, and whoever our new room mate would be. It would be even better if we could get our chaperone to come along for the ride...

" Well, let me show you to your room!" I said, grabbing a bag, and heading towards the wing that housed Stacy's room.

Stacy looked resigned to her fate, and followed me to the the door with her name on it.

" Just put your thumb on the pad and it'll open up for you! Isn't it cool! " I pulled her towards the door, bag still in hand. It was shockingly heavy, especially for such a small bag. I was tempted to open it up under the guise of helping her unpack, but decided against crossing that particular line. No reason to ruin any good will between us so soon.

The door opened, and Stacy looked into the pre-furnished room with a small smile. " It's not the worst dorm room I could have."

Stacy walked in, turned once, and set down the bag she was lugging. "Do you mind if I get that? I'd like to let the girls out now that we're home."

"The girls? " I asked in legitimate confusion. I usually called my boobs " the girls" but I doubted that was where this was headed. Not that I would complain, Stacy looked good, and obviously kept in great shape.

Stacy took the tote I had been carrying, and set it down on the bed to open it. " I call my pets "the girls", mostly out of habit. " She flipped open the tote, revealing about 20 clear cases, and began pulling them out.

"I raise and breed spiders, have been for years. Once my power emerged it seemed smart to do it in house, rather than farm the work out. " She spoke while continuing to pull put and arrange the cases, which each contained a spider. I honestly didn't know enough to identify more than the single black widow , but I researched for a living. I knew I could get my spider knowledge up to snuff.

I needed to stay in character though, not get distracted by my love for research. " OOHHhhh! Do you control spiders? Or control bugs? Can you make them giant and have them attack people?! " I doubted I would get any useful information, but I needed to give it a try.

" I'll tell you all about my powers once we get past the combat trials, but for now I want to keep any potential aces up my sleeve. Sorry Claire. " Stacy was kind enough, but she was definitely not going to budge on the power question.

" Ok..." I said with a hint of cute-but-dejected. " I guess that makes sense, I just can't wait to see what everyone can do!"

"Claire! Our other roommate is here! Come meet her! " Penny yelled, summoning us into the common room.

"Well, I guess we should go say hi! " I said, adding back some of my cheer to be sure that Stacy didn't start to feel guilty.

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Penny

I watched as Claire began to drag Stacy towards her new room, a small pang of sympathy in my chest. I knew the value to letting Claire do her thing, and I had been shown time and time again that her methods worked. Still, I felt a little guilty subjecting my new roommate to Claire's onslaught so soon.

Pushing past the little guilt I felt I turned to Ray, and said " Come my minion, we shall begin the unpacking of my evil lab! "

Ray replied smoothly " Of course my lady. We shan't have you without the ability to put your dark talents to use! "

We turned towards the door that held both of our rooms( my thanks to whoever gave us the close quarters ), but before I could swipe my thumb over the security pad the front door opened. In walked a tall, and putting it bluntly, gorgeous woman with eyes and hair so green that I knew she had to be one of us. She was striking, and carried herself with a weight I knew from home. She was another who had seen bad things, and had come through it alive, but changed.

Reading people usually fell to Claire, but I knew the look from my time around the hero world. She looked older, or at least older than Ray, Claire, Stacy, and I. I wasn't sure if that was the effect of years past, or things seen, but I could't pry to deep right now. We may only be student heroes here, but we knew how to act professional, and not get personal.

Ray stepped forward, offering a hand, and making up for my lapse in politeness. " Hello Madam, I am Ray, and the beauty you see behind me is Penny. Welcome to Melbrooke. "

I followed suit as soon as my brain got back on track. " Hi! I'm Penny! Are you the chaperone for the dorm? "

The green haired woman gripped Ray's hand, then mine, and responded ." Hi! I'm Jessica, and no, I'm a student too, not the chaperone."

" Well, welcome to the Melbrooke club! We were just talking about getting lunch once the chaperone meeting is over. Would you like to come?" I figured that just because Claire was our sneak that didn't mean I couldn't help her out every now and then. And getting both roomies on board for lunch would undoubtedly give her some good intel for the Inscrutable Machine.

" I'm down for that. It'll be nice to get to know some of the people I'll be living with. " Jessica had the aura of someone with power, but she was still kind, not cocky and brash like so many I knew.

Ray chimed in at that. " I agree. We will likely be together for several years, so it's best to get comfortable around each other. "

"Oh! You still need to meet Claire and Stacy! CLAIRE! Our other roommate is here! Come meet her!" Ray was right. We should get everyone on the right track, since we all planned on being together for the next four years.

I heard Claire give a small " Wee!" from the other room that signaled her imminent arrival, and Ray and I braced for impact.

Right on cue my best friend in the world, AKA a sentient hurricane wearing a blond wig, came rushing into the room, Stacy following behind in a much more sedate walk.

" Oh my god! I love your hair! What's your name!? I'm Claire, and this is Stacy, Ray, and Penny! Welcome to Melbrooke! " Claire had her character on point, giving Jessica a blast of her power, and another blasting of questions.

Jessica reacted like Stacy had, stepping back and trying to catch her breath. " Wow. Hello, I think. I'm Jessica, nice to meet you both. And thanks for the compliment. The hair is pretty divisive, either people love it or hate it. "

Huh. She recovered well. That was interesting. I could feel Claire's power still tickling the back of my head, so I knew it was going, but Jessica seemed to have moved past the shock stage exceptionally quickly.

" So! What's your power? Ray over there is strong and fast, and Stacy won't tell me her power till the day after tomorrow. " She shot a small, but stunningly adorable, glare over at Stacy at the mention of her power, causing the poor girl to melt, just a little.

Claire just kept going, character firmly in place, trying to keep the others off balance. " And Penny makes some of the coolest stuff I've ever seen! It's amazing! She'll have to show you! "

Jessica smiled down at Claire, doing better under the onslaught than she had any right to. " Let's just say that I have a green thumb, on top of the green hair."

Still smiling she reached into her front pocket, pulled out a tiny packet, and reached inside. Grabbing what I soon realized was a tiny seed she licked her thumb, stuck the seed onto the spot she had just licked, and a second later a beautiful plant with bell like pink flowers had grown from the seed, and up and around her arm.

"OH. MY. GOD. " Claire was nearly speechless, and Ray and I were similarly shocked. That was an impressive display, and it was also stunningly beautiful.

Stacy looked on, mouth slightly open. She was also slightly paled, which I made a note of. Claire would have to dig into that a bit deeper.

Jessica smiled down at the dumbstruck Claire, and said with an audible grin" Yeah. I love my babies. Do you think they'll mind if I let her live in the flower bed out front? "

A new voice came from the entrance. "I think that will be no problem at all, Jessica. I look forward to your other additions, but please be subtle about how you add them. We don't want you expelled from the HCP for a secret identity violation." We all turned at once to the new speaker, her sudden appearance snapping us out of the shock caused by Jessica's display of power.

She continued to speak, not at all disturbed by the surprise written on our faces. " I am your dorm chaperone, Mary, and I will be supervising you all for the duration of your time in the HCP, no matter how long that is. I am also the HCP psychologist's graduate student, and I will be seeing to your mental health, along side her. As you all know your residence here is due to your risk factors being identified in the admissions process. It is my job to be sure that the mental strain of the HCP does not break you, or cause you to be a risk to others. This should have all been explained to you before your arrival, but I find it best to throw in a quick refresher just in case. "

The Inscrutable Machine had been briefed on Mary's presence, and that we were not to show foreknowledge of her, even though we had all met before, through Sally Daniels. Claire, true to form, jumped right into the gap left in conversation by Mary's arrival and announcement.

" Hi Mary! I'm so excited to meet you! I just can't wait to get to know you, you'll be like our den mother! I guess you know who we are right? " Claire was back on track, the little minx.

" I do. " Mary said in a kind, calm voice that held just a touch of a smile. " I'm glad to see you've made your selves at home, and started getting to know each other. Now, I heard something about us all getting lunch? "

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Michael continued the journey up the stairs, lugging the small amount of luggage he had been allowed behind him. His parents had been riding his ass about getting into shape before the HCP, but he'd mostly blown them off. Michael was what most would call chunky. Not huge, but certainly not in the athletic shape his parents and sisters were.

He knew he'd gotten into the HCP on power, not his physical prowess, but right about then he was wishing he'd taken his parents more seriously when they tried getting him into what they referred to as "fighting shape". At least he didn't have to worry about getting lost. He'd given the place a good viewing once he'd decided on Lander, and had been admitted.

His power was not one that inspired awe, or made people cower in fear, but it was damn useful. Michael could see anyplace he'd ever been, or anywhere he could get a photo of. With parents in the DVA sneak division they had seen the potential immediately, and started increasing his training. He had done memory exercises, tracking and tailing, both with and without his power, and a good deal more. He liked the work, and had some talent, but he had always hated the exercise part.

Both his sisters had taken to the the training like a gay twink to jockstraps, but it had always done nothing more than frustrate Michael. He finally arrived to his room, slowed down not by the need for directions, but his lack of physical ability. Opening the door he was greeted by his worst nightmare.

A straight jock. In his room. Likely his room mate. He only had one word.

"Shit. "

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Andy was lounging on his "bed" ( more like prison bunk, but it would have to do for the first year ). His move had been laughably easy, thanks to his portals. All he had to do was shove one under the boxes and another a few feet above the floor, and voila, instant cross-country move. It would have been less tiring to just carry his crap upstairs, but that defeated the purpose of being a super with the power to rip holes in the fabric of space. It was the principle of the thing.

Still, opening portals took it out of him, hence the lounging around until lunch.

His door swung open, and some fat ass fuck was standing there, out of breath, looking like hell, and carrying a single bag.

Andy was many things. The son of two very effective heroes, a world class teleporter, and a good athlete. He was not, however, subtle.

The over weight ass hole looked at him once, and muttered something under his breath, sour look on his face. Now that just wouldn't do. He was Andy fucking Meadows, and he was not going to be bad mouthed by someone who struggled to make it up god damn some stairs.

" What the fuck did you just say tubby? " Andy growled out.

"Nothing." The lard spat back at him, causing the anger to rise even faster.

"We'll see who's talking shit tomorrow after orientation. I bet you won't make it past day one, carrying all that extra weight around. " Andy was pissed, and he made it known. No one fucked with a Meadows and got away unscathed.

He stood off his bed, and stormed out, angry at more than his new room mate, not that he would ever admit that to himself.

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Michael watched the taller, better looking man walk out the door, having shoved pass him in a huff. No way in hell was he giving some jerk like that the pleasure of beating him. In that one moment Michael felt the drive that had evaded him before. He had always wanted to be a hero, but now he wanted to beat that man's arrogant ass.

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It could have been worse. The dorm rooms were certainly not glamorous, but she could make it through a year with one. At least after that she would be allowed to go and get her own place. She would need to split the rent, she hadn't saved that much, but it would be a stark improvement over this broom closet with some beds.

Emily was honestly thrilled to have made it into the Lander HCP. She had worked hard to be able to afford it, but with the help of her dolls she was able to make some decent money, and her parents had been thrilled to have a child going to college, especially after her brother. Marcus had become an artist, which wasn't surprising given his "talent" for creating inks so gorgeous that they could have sold for thousands an ounce. Her parents were... less than thrilled with his career choice, mostly because he hadn't moved out yet. But that meant they had Emily set for tuition. She just had to cover the expenses outside of school.

A quick glance around the small room confirmed that she had everything in place. She had packed more than she probably should've, given the size of the rooms, but she would make it work. She just had to hope her room mate hadn't done the same thing. The other two girls who shared the living area seemed nice enough, and she was relieved to fond that all the people in her suite were HCP students.

"Hey. You Emily ?" A gruff voice echoed form the door way, and Emily turned to see a new girl. Shorter, but fit and sleek.

"Hi!" she said, walking to greet the newcomer. " Yeah, I'm Emily, are you Kaisha? "

"Yep. I guess this is it then? " Kaisha looked the room over with the same level stare she'd used on Emily. "Not much, but whatever. I didn't enroll in the HCP for the perks. "

" I guess that makes sense." Emily tried to keep the cheer up, but the roughness of the other girl made it more difficult. " We're all here to be heroes, not just enjoy the college experience. "

" I'm here to kick some ass, myself. I can't wait to put some supers in their place. " Kaisha started heading for the open door heading to the only empty bedroom.

" Wait! Aren't you a super? " Emily was shocked to hear Kaisha refer to supers like another species, something she had only heard humans do before.

" I'm a null. Nobody ever thinks of me as a fucking super. I'm just a normal, puny human to them. But the HCP apparently thinks differently, so here I am. And I just can't wait to show those cocky assholes what I can do. " With that the darker girl turned away from Emily, and slammed the door to the formerly empty bedroom

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The lander professors were again gathered around the conference room table, files and index cards spread out like a wind elemental had just suffered a panic attack.

"Jessica's going to be the toughest first round fight. Do we have anyone that is even a slightly good match-up?" The new dean of the HCP was still managing to keep her professional mask on, but it was weighing on her.

" No. We will likely have to wait to see her actual combat prowess, since at this point her raw power will be more than enough to overwhelm the other students. " Ramon was stoic, which usually held true through anything, barring Sean's involvement.

" I agree." The control professor chimed in, since she would likely be training the girl throughout her time in the HCP. " At this point we have to look at two factors, previous training, and power level. In time those will even out a bit, but right now we don't have anyone with enough of either to truly challenge her. "

" We do have a good legacy option in Stacy Kole. " Esme spoke up, to the almost invisible annoyance of Sonya. " She is strong, and has some training under her belt. She will not be a true challenge, but it's the best we have on hand. "

Sonya was less than pleased, which passed the notice of everyone, aside from Esme of course. The telepath was always listening, even more so after the attack.

Ariel nodded in agreement. " You're right, that should work for the first round. At least after that the bracket takes over. "

" Who do you propose we match against a massive stone shifter?" Sonya asked, picking up the next card in front of her.

" What about your blaster boy Ramon? Do think he's got what it takes to make it through brick head? " Sean looked over to the ranged combat professor, obviously fishing for a reaction.

Ariel cut in before Ramon could respond, if for no other reason than to stop the meeting from devolving into another sarcasm-off between the two men she expected to train the next generation of heroes. "Sean, keep the nicknames to a minimum. But it is likely the best match-up, since we get to see the power of the blaster, and the durability of the stone shifter. Plus we have a lower likelihood of injuries if we match an inexperienced blaster against someone with enhanced durability."

Ramon bit back his response, seeing the attempt the Dean was making, and instead reached for his own card. "Ah. I have our newest mad genius, the Ack girl. Do we have anyone that can match her level of versatility? "

" I had one set aside for her, just a moment. " Ariel started sorting through the stack in her area, until she came up with the card she needed. " Here we go. I wanted to have her go against the girl with the weird word ability. I think she has potential, and she certainly has versatility. It will be up to her to figure out how to use that against someone who has almost as much range as she does. "

" Do you think it's a good idea to put someone so green up with the girl that has been fighting other supers for years? " Sonya interjected. " It seems like the Ack girl will have all the advantages in that sort of fight. "

" I disagree. The word girl has the potential to come out on top, if she can think of a creative solution. It won't be easy, but it's not impossible. " The control professor never looked up from her own stack of papers, simply making her statement and going about her work.

" Fine. We'll see how it goes. And they can always move up the ranks later in the year. " Sonya conceded the point, and continued working.

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Brain Ack watched his dome go over the high school, a knot of worry in his stomach. " Don't be stupid Brian, they're smart, strong, and experienced. They'll be fine..." His internal dialog was at war with his gut, which was currently yelling for him to put down the damn dome, and go after his child. But he knew he was needed above ground. If something did go terribly wrong the entire block could collapse. The problem with LA having such a huge under-city portion was that if something went wrong down below the entire city was just a sink hole waiting to happen.

The statue was immensely powerful. He knew that. He'd known that ever since Penny and the kids had freed the guardian in the middle of a middle school courtyard. But until today it had been stable. Brian Ack didn't believe in magic. He never had, and never would. But when he and BB had finally gotten the kids out of their villain phase the first thing he'd done was to have every " magical " superhero (and several villains) look the statue over. Each one had declared it to be safe to store, albeit in a secure environment.

The statue had an odd effect on those who touched it, and the objects that had a long period of contact with it. Marvelous had called it a curse, but Brian thought that it must have some affect that interfered with brain chemistry or bio-electrical functions. It somehow made those who came in contact with it stupid, clumsy, or just had them take dumb risks.

Of course that didn't explain how Penny had become immune to it, but until he found a way to bypass the effect himself... "FOCUS BRIAN! Those are your kids down there, you need to be doing your job, and they'll do theirs!"

Coming to his senses quickly he grabbed his phone and dialed BB. " BB, I need you to sound the alarm. Reach out to your contacts in the villain community, tell them we have a possible 1962 on our hands. The statue has undergone a change, and the kids are doing their best to dispose of it now. They're going to the deep under-city to have the machine ingest it, hopefully it will be able to hold or dissipate the energy coming off it with minimal damage."

BB was instantly in the Audit mode. " What was the location relative to the surface that they were going to attempt the destruction of the statue? "

" Evolution's lair. Beneath Santa Monica. If they can make it that far, that is. " Brian's gut twisted again at that. He had no way of knowing when the statue would complete its reaction, much less what the result would be.

" I'll have my contacts start evacuating the area, under any means necessary. You'll be coordinating the hero side? " BB was in her element, professional, and ready to do her duty.

" Yes. I'll contact you to confer once my arrangements are complete. " Brian was about to hang up the phone and continue preparing for the potential disaster when he heard his wife's voice on the line, in stark contrast to the emotionless vice of the Audit.

" Brian. The kids will be fine. They're pro's, and can handle this. Focus on our work, and let them be the heroes that they are. " Brian stopped. He took a moment to take it all in and responded. " I know honey. But they're still our kids. I can't help but worry. "

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Beatrice Benevolence Ack was gone. The Audit was all that remained, at least for now. She had purposely avoided making the mental switch over to BB, because once she did she would have to confront the fact that her three children, though two were adopted, were gone. Missing. Not dead. But missing.

Brian had gone over the sight of the incident with a team of mad scientists, from both sides, and they all confirmed that there had not been an explosion, but an implosion. Redeye had said that she could see traces of a temporal anomaly, but she had no way of tracing the path the tunnel had taken.

Thanks to the work of a team of villains and heroes the Santa Monica strip head been cleared out in record time, saving thousands of lives. 6,789, to be exact. And the Audit was nothing if not exact.

The evacuation was... unorthodox, to say the least. That happened when you used villains to do rescue work. But it had been necessary. According to the Audit's calculations there had been far to few super heroes with appropriate power sets to complete the evacuation, so the villains had been vital. Plus, it had been amusing to see Lucifar flying around on her newly returned wings, hauling a metro bus over the skyline.

Plus, it wasn't like the super-villains had been a hard sell. No one wanted a repeat of 1962. When Richter had made his first appearance no one had payed much attention. An earth elemental robbing banks had been nothing new. When Richter had gone insane after attempting to steal an alien artifact and sank four city blocks into the under-city, resulting in thousands of deaths, and untold amounts of property damage, that had certainly made an impression.

" BB. snap out of it. We need you right now, not the Audit. " The Minx's voice came pounding into the Audit's ears, shaking her from her stupor.

"There we go. The Audit did her job, but right now you need to come out and do yours. Brian is a mess honey, and he needs his wife. The Inscrutable Machine has allies in high and low places, and we'll not stop until we get our kids back. Go see your husband, and let us work. " The Minx was nothing like her usual bubbly self, understandably. Those were her kids too, and she was in just as much pain as BB.

" You're right. Thank you for getting me to see it. I just... I can't loose them, not this soon. Our work is dangerous, but they're my kids Misty. Our kids. I can't stand the thought of not getting them back from wherever that damn bridge took them. " BB was back, and holding it together. She had lost people before, everyone in the hero or villain world had. But nothing prepares you to loose your children.

"We will get them back. I just know we will. But right now you need to go help you husband stabilize. He's taking this even harder than we are. He feels guilty, which is utter bullshit. He did the right thing, and you need to go and convince him of that, before it breaks him. " Misty looked worse than BB had ever seen. She was the Minx for gods sake, she never looked less than stunning. But today she was wearing her years like a burden, not an accessory.

" Come with me, Misty. You're right, we need to support each other right now. Then we'll go get our damn kids back." BB stood, grabbing the Minx, and heading to her car. She would be damned to eternity in Hell before she would let her children go.

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The Sorceress, otherwise known as Barbara Tinsley sat across from Lucifar and her sister, She Who Wants. They needed all the magical energy they could muster if they wanted to complete this spell, and Barbara was going to complete this spell.

Oddly enough Lucifar was acting as the voice of reason in the circle. "You know this is dangerous. Are you sure you can risk it? You meds may be working, but overuse of your power could cause the voices to break back through. "

She Who Wants nodded, slowly. " The Inscrutable Machine was a friend to me, and I will take the risk gladly if it means we can return them to us. "

She really had been doing better the last few years. She had gotten her GED, started working a legit job( for Spyder, but it still counted ), and had gotten a sort of normal life back. But the IM was important to her, and even more important to Barbara. She was willing, especially if it got her sisters first, and best friends back into this dimension.

Lucifar nodded. " OK then. I want those brats back as much as anyone, so I'm willing to lend my energy to the spell, but it falls to you two to shape it. I'm not attuned to any of the multidimensional powers, and I'm not willing to risk using an artifact to get on the right wavelength. "

Barbara nodded back to the woman, cloaked in black energy of her own creation. " We're more than enough to get past the barrier, we just don't have the energy to do the tracking on the other side. "

She Who Wants spoke then, in the same multi-toned voice that she always had when accessing her power. " Let us begin. "

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Will was helping with the cleanup, or what was left of it. After Groundswell had come through and raised and re-enforced the street (and the under city below) to the best of her ability there was still ruble to clear, and personal belongings to try and save before the bidding war started for contracts to rebuild the destroyed city blocks.

Currently on rubble duty, Will had a pedestrians eye view of the damage, and it was striking. He could only imagine what the toll would have been if the statue had been above ground when the implosion occurred. As it was most buildings were beyond repair, and the street would need to be completely rebuilt. That was nothing compared to the underground damage to water, power, sewage, and gas.

Will stopped his work for a moment, catching a glimpse of Cassie, Rage, and Ruin, all working on the larger and more dangerous pieces of rubble. Will still had a bit of a crush on Cassie, but he knew that it was a one way street, so he had stopped pursing it. Still, it was awe-striking to see her electric monsters moving and stacking rubble like it was nothing. Cassie had only become more powerful over the years, and the Upgrade given to her by the fourth horseman had certainly helped along the way.

Cassie was still in love with Penny, though she had learned to hide it better over the years. They were both in the same boat, but Cassie had not learned to push her feelings aside as well as Will had. Will knew that Cassie would stop at nothing to get Penny back, and that she had already called in a favor with her "grandpa " to start the long, arduous process of tracking and retrieving the Inscrutable Machine from where ever the bridge had sent them.

The Inscrutable Machine would be saved, Will had no doubt. They just had to get to them.

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Penny

Penny and Ray sat in Penny's room, letting the stress of the day fade, while catching up on the other-world reality television that they had soon become addicted to.

"Are we really going to do this? " Penny said, still staring at the TV, which was displaying a show about Super Athletics Association players trying to find the perfect wallpaper for their fourth vacation home.

"Do what? " Ray asked, turning to look at the girl he had loved for years.

"Commit to this program. If we do this we're promising to work four hard years to become heroes for a world we don't belong to. Shouldn't we be trying to get home? With my job I can fund my own research, and we can try and go back. Are you really ready to give up on the possibility that we'll never see home again, or our parents, or anyone ever again? " Penny was becoming more desperate as she spoke, but she stayed glued to the TV, afraid that she would see disappointment in her boyfriends eyes.

" Penny, this is what we do. This is what we trained for, this is our duty. I know that I don't have the same ties to our home, but I do love Brian and BB, and Misty, and all our friends. I would love to go back, but the statue that dragged us here is gone. I know that Claire has been trying to track it for months, and she's had no luck. This is where we are, and I think we need to do what it takes to get back on the job. " Ray was quiet, but he spoke with force and conviction. Ray had become a staunch protector of innocents over the years, and that trait had only made Penny proud, until now.

" But we can't give up! That's our home, our whole lives work is back there, all the people we love, everything! " Penny had a slightly manic tone to her voice, but Ray interrupted before she could go on.

" The person I love the most in the world is right here, and our best friend is mere feet away. We may never get back to the place we called home, so I say that we do our best here. We can't sit back and let people die in the streets because we want to go home. This is our duty, and I believe you know that. You're the one who kept Claire and I centered and on the right path back in the old days, and you were the one who wanted nothing more than to be a hero, helping those who were caught in something they could never understand, much less defend them selves against. You are a hero Penny Ack. And this program is how we can get back to work, saving those who need us. " Ray spoke with such conviction that Penny broke. She had been holding in so much fear and sadness, and it came flooding out at those words.

This was not only her duty, it was the work she loved. And Ray was right, she needed to get back to it. She would never give up on home, but she would focus on the program for now. She was a hero, and she was going to prove it tomorrow.

Penny grabbed Ray, and held on for dear life. He held her like that for a long, long time, letting her cry. He was confident in her, and he knew that tomorrow she would show the HCP why the Inscrutable Machine had been both loved and feared.

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Mary sat, listening to the thoughts of her charges. She was glad that Penny had finally had a breakthrough on her own. The poor girl was now facing that she may never get back to the world she loved, and instead of becoming angry or biter, she resolved herself to becoming a better hero for this world.

It struck Mary that she had slipped into place so easily here that she had almost missed it happening. She now lived in the suite of rooms that the two Company agents had occupied for years, and she felt more at home than she had since she had moved out of Melbrooke at the end of her senior year.

She changed her focus to the other charges under her protection. Claire Lutra was in her room, doing research so fast that Mary was challenged keeping up with it. That girl had a mind on par with Nick's, and she was proving now that she knew how to use it. Funnily enough Claire was on the wrong track, but that was for her to find out. Mary knew the breakdowns on all her charges powers, so the fact that Claire was researching heroes with animal control or biological abilities was a give away that she had yet to uncover the true ability of Stacy Kole.

Stacy was one of the fights that Mary most looked forward to seeing tomorrow, and she would be watching it in person. It helped that two of her charges were in the same first round battle, but she would have been there regardless. Stacy was one she worried about. Mary knew pressure to succeed. Alice had so many expectations on her in the first year of school that Mary had been tempted to stop listening to the girls thoughts. Her father had put to much on her, but she had come through it. Stacy felt almost as much pressure, but in a different way. Sonya had wanted her daughter to follow in her footsteps, and had trained the girl for years. Thankfully she had never been insistent on a hero career for her daughter, but Stacy had internalized her mothers absence as a remark on her worth. Sonya loved the girl dearly, and had seen her career as protecting her daughter, but Stacy had only seen it as an attempt to get away from a disappointing progeny.

The move to California, and the acceptance of the teaching job had not helped the situation. It had allowed Sonya more time with her daughter, and was far safer, both things that the rational ( and slightly detached ) hero saw as benefits. Stacy just saw it as another way for her mother to avoid retirement and still be away from home. Mary would be keeping a close eye on Stacy. She hoped that a closer relationship with her mother would assist in the healing process, but she also knew that getting Sonya to have an emotional conversation would be challenging.

The student psychologists mind turned to her last charge, Jessica. Undoubtedly the most powerful, Jessica also had the most trauma, with the possible exception of Ray. She had worked for years in a field that was almost as mentally damaging as hero work. Jessica had seen things that left deep scars, but she remained a person that wanted to do good in a world that she knew for a fact was often cruel and deadly. That spoke volumes about her character, and her determination.


End file.
